To Be Like B2ST
by b2sty-b2uty
Summary: SooYun and MiYoung have been drafted to a new girls group under CUBE entertainment. When they are thrown into the world of the popular boys group, B2ST, they soon question if it's even what they wanted to begin with.  M for future safety
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _I have never written a B2ST fanfic before, but I'm hoping that this will possibly be interesting I guess? Trying to be realistic, as well._

**Chapter One**

I was never an outgoing person offstage. I was never in groups, talking with all my friends. I was never the girl who everyone wanted to hang out with. It wasn't that I didn't like people – I was a great listener, and people would always turn to me for advice. I was just quiet.

People are always shocked when I tell them that.

I was, I was, I was. I don't know what I am now, to tell you the truth. I don't know what I will ever be. I know that I could become something, and everyone tells me that I will. I've been working my ass off for the longest time to be part of a girl's group at JYP's Cube branch, but so far, my group is only a duo.

They tell us our name is going to be Mimzy, which I think is stupid. Currently, Mimzy is made up of me, SooYun, and another girl, MiYoung. They want either four or five members to debut, but they have been having very weak auditions. The most we can do is write music and choreography. MiYoung and I have been forced into spending all of our time together, and I've found that we get along really well. In the past few months, we have become best friends. We have a lot in common; for instance, we both prefer Visual Kei, a style of Japanese rock, over any type of Korean music. We're currently living in a cheap apartment together, mostly because Cube doesn't want to waste money creating a dorm for us until we've gained popularity.

Although we're getting sick of waiting, we've come to love all of our Cube staff. We know the wait will be worth it, as well. One of Cube's other girl's groups, 4minute, is doing really well. We never really get to see our label mates, but we know that we're always in the same building. Eventually, they will prepare a dorm for Mimzy in the same building as B2ST, but until then, we have to deal with the awkward glances in the hall, the silent elevator rides.

"I don't know if they're just unfriendly," MiYoung began, "or just tired, but the guys in B2ST seem to hate me."

I laughed at her, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, I left my nice shoes in one of the practice rooms, I had been working on some of the choreography," she frowned, "and when I went in there, they stopped what they were doing and like.. stared at me, " I laughed at her, but she continued, "I'm serious! It was like I was a damn contagious virus."

"Well maybe they were in the middle of an argument or something," I laughed, "But I know Park wants us to sit in on one of their practices. He told me yesterday afternoon."

"But why?" MiYoung whined.

"Learning experience, I guess. I'm pretty curious. I haven't listened to their stuff that much, but I know they're doing really well," I shrugged.

MiYoung groaned and went to lay down on her back, keeping her relatively long legs crossed. She was definitely going to be a heartthrob. She was about 168 cm, thin, with very long hair and big eyes. She sang beautifully, too. She was the inspiration behind Mimzy, and has been a trainee for Cube for six months. I joined her about three months ago. I'm a very different look than her, and 2 years younger. I'm only 155cm, my hair is short and choppy, and I'm not as thin as her. My legs are bigger because I'm more of a dancer than a singer. Where MiYoung has to work hard at dancing and sings effortlessly, I am the opposite. Dancing has always been second nature to me. Even so, I danced more than I slept. If it were up to me, I would be paid to dance by myself, making up my own choreography and perfecting my original moves. Unfortunately, because I hate ballet, there is no career outlet for me.

Right on time, our choreographer, Mike Song, came in the practice room we were lounging in, "Girls. We've got another audition around 4, but until then, let's go hang out with B2ST."

"MiYoung thinks they hate her," I teased.

"Why would B2ST hate you? They've never even met you," Mike teased, "Get your butts up and let's go over there. I have to work with them anyway."

"New routine?" I instantly perked up.

"Not for you," he laughed.

"I like learning dances," I smiled shyly, "But I won't get in the way."

Mike chuckled and ushered us out of the practice room, "Now, they're going to be grouchy. They're always grouchy this early."

"It's 10 am," MiYoung said plainly.

"For those guys, 10 am might as well be 7 am. I imagine that's when you got here, right SooYun?"

I simply smiled. I liked the big practice room that 2PM used on the 3rd floor. They didn't usually get here until 9, so I liked to come in early and dance.

Mike opened the door to one of the bigger practice rooms and held it open for us.

"What's with the trainees?" a tall member I recognized to be the leader of B2ST, DooJoon, asked Mike quietly. Not quietly enough.

My face must have turned crimson, and I couldn't make eye contact. They had this sort of authority over us.

"They need to see some action today, and I need you guys to perform like these two are your audience," Mike said to the group of six, "Stretch. We're learning a new routine today."

"What song?" I didn't recognize the member who asked.

"Soom," Mike answered, "You haven't recorded that one yet, but I have the backing track and you guys know your words. I say stretch, no one's stretching," Mike turned to MiYoung and me, "You two can take a seat over there. Haw should be here in a minute."

I knew he was talking about. Haw from Prepix, one of the greatest hip hop dance groups in Korea. I got butterflies thinking about it. I had seen him passing in the hall once, but I got to see him for an extended time today. I got to see how he worked. He and Mike had already come up with their choreography for this song, but I hoped these guys would have more contribution. Being in a group like this wasn't for the sake of being a puppet. I knew HyunSeung was probably one of the greatest dancers at Cube. I watched the way he stretched and warmed up, hoping to learn something.

"Hi," I looked to where the voice had come and got poked right under the eye by a hand that was extended to shake mine, "Oh god I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I looked up at the voice to see DooJoon standing before MiYoung and me, "You're DooJoon, the leader."

"My reputation precedes me," he smiled, "You two are trainees for the potential new group, but I didn't catch your names."

"I'm MiYoung," MiYoung, who wasn't sitting, flirtatiously held out her hand to shake DooJoon's, "I volunteered for leader of Mimzy. This is SooYun."

"Nice to meet you two," DooJoon smiled at her. I knew what she was doing, MiYoung. She was getting buddy-buddy with the group, hoping they knew some potential members, or made an effort to kickstart our careers. It was working. He couldn't stop looking at her already.

"Nice to meet you as well, DooJoon," she winked, "I hope to learn from you as a leader."

"I hope I display the proper leader traits," he flirted, and then backed away; keeping his eyes locked on MiYoung, he said, "Pay attention today girls."

MiYoung sat down next to me, leaning back on her hands and crossing her ankles.

"How do you do it?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"Make guys do that," I laughed, "He's practically in love with you already."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she giggled.

I looked back to the group. There was a guy in the back who was giving us a strange, almost angry look. I looked away, scared that we were offending him or something. I focused on the scuffed floor, using the end of my sneaker to try to un-scuff the black mark closest to me. I was probably imagining things, he was probably just grouchy and looking around.

Mike's phone rang and he went out in the hall. The eight of us were left staring around the room like idiots.

"Guys, this is MiYoung, and," DooJoon paused, "SooYun. They're the trainees for the new girls group, Mimzy."

A baby-faced member choked back laughter, "Nice to meet you," he quickly covered up under MiYoung's gaze, "I'm Yoseob."

"And this is KiKwang, DongWoon, JunHyung, and HyunSeung," DooJoon pointed in order around the circle they had sort of fallen into.

DongWoon raised his hand in an awkward wave. He had been the one with the angry look on his face, but after a second look, he was cute and harmless looking. Yoseob had a cute smile on the face, and I thought for sure he was the maknae of the group.

"So, you girls aren't B2ST fans?" KiKwang asked, standing up and stretching his back.

"We've heard some stuff," MiYoung said simply, "but SooYun and I are more into the Japanese visual kei scene."

Yoseob raised his eyebrow, "What's that?"

"It's like gothic ro—"

"It's not gothic," MiYoung defended, "Not the stuff we like. You're thinking of extreme stuff."

"Well it's rock music," KiKwang finished, "My brother likes it."

MiYoung nodded, "But SooYun is a big fan of HyunSeung."

I felt the blood rush to my face, "I think you're a great dancer," I admitted.

He bowed his head a little in thanks, "Are you a dancer yourself?"

I shrugged, "I play around."

MiYoung gasped, "Are you kidding? She's the best female dancer I've ever seen. I bet she'll learn today's routine before you guys, and she won't even have to practice it before she nails it perfectly. Ugh. I hate you so much."

DooJoon laughed unnecessarily, and HyunSeung smiled at me, "Challenge accepted?"

"No, no," I waved my hand in front of my face, "I'm sure you guys will nail it before I can think twice about it."

"Oh come on," Yoseob laughed, coming up from a butterfly stretch, "You can't deny a challenge from your oppas."

I scratched my eyebrow awkwardly, "Okay, challenge accepted."

HyunSeung gave me a thumbs up, "More inspiration for these idiots to work hard."

DooJoon was still smiling at MiYoung, and she was completely blowing him off when Mike walked back in with Haw. My heart sped up.

"Mikey, you didn't tell us the trainee was a good dancer," HyunSeung pointed at me, "She claims she'll learn the routine before us."

"I didn't say that," I laughed, "They challenged me."

Mike shrugged, "She probably will. She's the most talented dancer I've seen in a trainee. She's right on your level, HyunSeung. Better watch out."

I knew my face must've been extremely red, so I went back to focus on the scuff mark from earlier.

"Haw, these two are trainees for a girls group, they're sitting in on B2ST today, is that alright?"

"Of course," Haw smiled, "nice to meet you girls. Dancer, what can I call you?"

"Her name is SooYun," Mike answered for me, "This is MiYoung."

"I look forward to your challenge," Haw smiled, "but the routine is very easy."

"I'm sure it is to you, Mr. Haw," I laughed, unsure of myself.

He brushed my compliment away, "Just pay close attention, yeah?"

I just nodded. I paid extremely close attention. They learned the counts for the chorus first, which was very easy. I paid close attention to everyone, and it seemed DongWoon was having trouble with keeping time. I watched him more closely and would occasionally see him wince. I wondered what was up with him.

"Think you got it, SooYun?" Mike asked. I nodded my head, so he waved me in front of the mirror, "Show us."

I stood up nervously. I didn't mind dancing in front of people, but this was different. This wasn't a performance, it was another audition. A test I had to pass.

They began the loop of the chorus, and I instantly felt the beat running through me, completing the simple routine all the way to the last 8 counts, and even threw in some of my own ideas for "breathe in breathe out" before the exaggerated breaths.

"DongWoon, were you paying attention?" Mike criticized in front of the group, "She kept on beat the whole time. Can we try to do that please?"

DongWoon nodded and gave me a weird look. It was halfway envy, halfway congratulatory. Mike asked me to sit down and HyunSeung gave me a discrete thumbs-up before they moved on.

After another 30 minutes, Mike let them break. MiYoung chose to sit right by everyone's water bottles, so they all came toward us. She was congratulating them on their good work, while I just smiled. When DongWoon bent down to get his water bottle, he held his back and squinted.

"Did you hurt yourself?" I asked quietly.

"I slept funny I guess," he admitted, "It's no excuse."

"Where is it hurting?" I asked.

"My lower and middle back," he took a seat against the wall a few feet away, "it's really no big deal."

"I can fix it," I mumbled, "My dad's a chiropractor."

DongWoon raised his eyebrow, "You can fix the fact that I slept funny?" He was clearly skeptical, but I nodded anyway, "How?"

"Pressing down on certain spots while you're lying in the right position," I shrugged, "It's just an option, you don't have to do it if you don't believe me."

DongWoon thought for a minute, "Have you done it before?"

MiYoung chose now to speak up, "She's like a genie with her hands. Anything from a crick in the neck to a backache like yours, she's a damn magician."

I laughed, because MiYoung abused my "magic" at times.

"Well let's try it," he got up, "There's a couch in the room next door."

"Mike, DongWoon hurt himself, I'm going to go fix it," I said privately to Mike. He just nodded and continued talking to KiKwang and HyunSeung.

I left the door open, but DongWoon made a face, "Can we shut it? The guys will probably make fun of me."

"That's fine," I shrugged and went back to shut the door. I had DongWoon lie on his stomach and put him in the proper position. It was really awkward, because I was practically on top of him. Couches weren't ideal to do these kinds of things, but he responded well to what I was doing. It took about 10 minutes to work out all the stress in his muscles.

"How long has it hurt?" I asked.

"Just today," he sighed.

"Really?" I asked, "It feels like it's been tense for weeks."

"It hasn't hurt like this though," DongWoon winced, "That hurt."

"I know, so will this," I pressed down on a tender spot, and it made a huge cracking noise. DongWoon groaned, but I kept on. After one last crack, I got the sound of relief I was looking for.

"That other girl was not kidding," DongWoon muttered, "I just want to relax now."

"Well you need to dance," I laughed, helping him off the couch, "Better?"

"Much," he stretched his arms in front of him, over his head, and behind his head, "Hopefully Mike will stop yelling at me now. Thanks."

"Anytime," I smiled kindly, "If it happens again, let me know. These types of things can build up over time, and that's when they start hurting like today. It might take a few other stretches to really fix the problem."

DongWoon nodded, "So can I get your number or something in case it happens again?"

I knew he only wanted it for the back stuff, but I blushed when he asked. It was rare for a cute guy to ask my number.

DongWoon smiled at my pink cheeks, "If you would rather me just find you in the building, that's fine."

"No, I don't mind," I scratched my eyebrow, "I'll just type it in."

DongWoon handed me his phone and I saved myself as a contact for him, "Thank you. I needed this, huh?"

I nodded, "Real bad. You would've pulled something if you kept all this dancing up, and then you'd be past repair."

DongWoon chuckled, which made me smile. He opened the door for me, only to meet the gaze of DooJoon and Yoseob. Two completely different gazes – DooJoon had a look of disapproval, while Yoseob looked cheerful and mischievous.

"I had a crick in my back, her dad's a chiropractor," DongWoon pushed away from the two of them.

"Little maknae is trying to get alone time with the girls," Yoseob chuckled, "Because all the other girls he tries to hit on are never interested."

_Maknae?_ I thought to myself, _DongWoon is the maknae? But he looks older than half of the members._

"I never said I was interested," I muttered, mostly to try to flirt. DongWoon looked playfully hurt, Yoseob laughed loudly and clapped his hands together, and DooJoon's face seemed to lift.

"You guys are jerks," DongWoon threw his empty water bottle at Yoseob's knee, and he dodged. DongWoon's water bottle instead hit MiYoung, who was sitting innocently on the floor, square in the chest. She clutched the water bottle and threw it back at DongWoon, hard.

"Ouch, damn, I didn't mean to!" DongWoon whined, "I'm sorry MiYoung!"

She scowled at him, and DooJoon slid to her side, playfully asking if she needed to be carried off to the hospital. She responded back ten times more playful by "fainting" into his lap. I couldn't help but stifle my chuckles.

"SooYun," Mike called from across the room, "Come here for a minute."

I hustled toward him and HyunSeung, "Yessir?"

"HyunSeung, you met SooYun? I want you two to work together on a few projects for Prepix," Mike waved Haw over, "There's a performance coming up, and you two would make a good team."

"When is it?" HyunSeung asked.

"A few weeks from now, that's why I'm telling you now," Mike chuckled.

"Talking to them about the duet piece?" Haw asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"I was going to let you do it," Mike smiled at me, "SooYun will probably piss herself."

Haw chuckled, "Well, from watching your dancing videos," he paused, adjusted his glasses, and then chuckled again, "You're probably one of the most talented female dancers I've seen. According to Mike, you are a very hard worker, as well. As for you, HyunSeung, we've worked together before. I think an apprentice would be a good thing for you."

"And you think SooYun should be my apprentice?" HyunSeung scratched his arm and gave me a once-over.

"Mike and I agree that both you and SooYun here will benefit from it," Haw smiled at me reassuringly, "So what do you think? You guys wanna come up with a duet piece?"

I looked to HyunSeung. Of course I wanted to do it, I had nothing to do. All I did was work with vocal coaches and dancing coaches and train, train, train. I wanted to do something more worthwhile than that. HyunSeung, however, had his own schedule. He looked me over again, rested his chin on his hand and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I think we can pull it off. When should we have a routine to show you?" he winked at me, then turned back to Haw. I couldn't hide my joy.

"It's just an underground thing, very important persons only," Haw smiled, "So make sure it's good. I want to see it by the end of next week."

I nodded. I was already formulating a routine in my head.

Mike smiled, "Well cool! You two talk about it later, Seungie has to get back to practice."

"Here, put your number in my phone and then call it to save my number. We'll figure out when I can practice soon, okay?" he tossed me his phone before falling into form with the rest of the group as Mike ushered them together.

MiYoung was staring at me with a look of mixed curiosity and confusion.

"Dance stuff," I said simply, sitting down next to her again without being able to wipe the stupid smile off my face.

I couldn't keep my eyes off HyunSeung. I still had his phone in my hand, so I scooted it toward the water bottles after saving his number. I was curious to who he had been texting when we first arrived. Was I seriously crushing on this guy? What was wrong with me?

"You're going to freak him out if you stare like that," MiYoung nudged me, "I get that you're fascinated but you're doing it all wrong."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Watch what I do to DooJoon," she chuckled, glimpsed over at DooJoon, who was concentrating hard on dancing. She flashed a smile just for a minute before looking down. DooJoon smiled slightly, then looked over at her again. She pretended to be telling me something, "He's looking at me right now, and he won't look away until I look back. It's going to be great. He's still looking, right?" she glanced over her shoulder at him, pretending to hide a smile. DooJoon's smile got bigger and he almost ran into JunHyung. MiYoung just laughed, "And that's how you flirt with your eyes."

"I'm not trying to flirt," at least I didn't think I was, "He's just a really good dancer. I like watching."

"You're an alien, aren't you?" she asked after a long pause.

"I just like dancing."

"You're sitting in a room with six breathtakingly gorgeous guys and you only care about the dancing?"

I shrugged. It wasn't smart to become interested in these guys. Too cute, too talented, too busy; not for MiYoung, though.

"Would you tell me if you were a lesbian?" she asked quietly.

I couldn't contain my laughter, "You're mature! Just because I'd rather focus on my dream instead of getting caught up with guys –"

"This is different. Mike wanted us to be here to watch. I'm watching, and _I'm_ _liking_ what I see. There is nothing wrong with that," she leaned back on her hands again, this time with a smirk wiped across her face.

"I'm not a lesbian," I chuckled, "I'm not stupid either. I'll look all day long, but I'm not getting any ideas."

"You're no fun," she smirked a hair wider, but I knew she was just messing with me the whole time. She was probably bored. I knew this thing with her and DooJoon was just going to be a constant friendly flirt. I hoped things stayed that way when we got more members.

I wanted so badly to be famous. I wanted so badly to dance on stage. I wanted so badly to display the talents I knew I had. I wanted so badly to show everyone what I was worth. I wanted so badly to prove wrong every doubt I had ever been given. I wanted so badly to be like B2ST. They wouldn't drag me along this long just to drop me… could they?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_I don't own B2ST or CUBE and don't claim any part of their cool thing they got going. I'm just a chick with too much time and imagination. I hope I can at least entertain you, the reader, the most important part of this story. :3_

**Chapter Two**

The whole day with B2ST was interesting. After lunch, which they destroyed within 10 minutes, B2ST had a recording session upstairs. We weren't technically supposed to sit in on that, so we waited in the waiting area with the guys who weren't recording. It was awkward because they were lounging and acting a lot different than the serious dancers we'd been watching. I wanted to hear the song so bad, but I also didn't want to get in anyone's way.

"You don't even care about the singing," MiYoung teased, "because you just want to dance."

"Well clearly you don't have to have the whole package," DooJoon laughed, "DongWoon can't dance."

"Yes I can!" DongWoon retorted, "Better than you."

DooJoon lunged at him and I sat back in my seat. I hadn't been around boys before, so their play-fight looked real to me.

"They're joking," HyunSeung leaned over and said to me, "You look scared."

"Aren't they hurting each other?" I asked.

"They're just playing around," he smiled. I felt my heart flutter a little. He had a great smile.

"Not like SooYun would know," MiYoung grunted, "she doesn't have brothers."

"Yeah, and I have 5 sisters," I laughed, "We fought _for real_. I guess brothers don't.."

"Oh, they do," HyunSeung laughed, "Trust me. Those two get in fights _all_ the time."

"The only way we can get them to stop sometimes is by telling them they're bruising each others' faces," Yoseob laughed from across the room.

JunHyung came out from recording; he was the last track of the day. The producer came back from the sound room with a smile, "Who wants to hear?"

Yoseob's hand was the first to shoot up into the air, and everyone followed the producer to the sound booth.

He waited for the chatter to stop before saying, "It still needs to be mixed and all, but it sounds great already. Ready?"

The song started off very slow. There was a booming note in the background while JunHyung spit his beginning rap. I looked around at who it was holding that note, and saw Yoseob nudge DongWoon. Damn. I took a breath just listening to him. He turned to look around at MiYoung and I, seemingly impressed with himself. I couldn't help but smile.

I could see the dance in my head as the song sped up. I could feel the rhythm in my muscles. I guess watching the dance all day had that effect on you.

It was a great song, both vocally and conceptually. I couldn't quite get the background right, but the lyrics told the story of a love that was obviously toxic. It jumped back and forth from "I don't want you in my life" to "I don't know if I can live without you," but the breathing must have been representative of how each day, although a struggle, must trek on through the confusion of it all. It was really well written, and the choreography fit well. It wasn't a bunch of random moves, it was actually a good construction of emotion.

The song itself, just as a piece of music, gave me chills.

"You guys like it?" the producer asked to no one in particular.

"It sounds good so far," KiKwang smiled, "I can't wait to hear the final."

MiYoung was in deep concentration. She must have been really impressed.

"Trainees got any input?" the producer smiled.

I shook my head, but MiYoung opened her mouth for a second, then closed it.

"MiYoung?" DooJoon teased, "Do you want to say something?"

"There's a weird part," she paused, "HyunSeung, in your solo –"

"I know," he sighed, "I can't hold that last note long enough."

MiYoung shrugged, "It still sounds really good. But will you be able to hold it live?"

"Nope," he chuckled, "Do you think we should record it again?"

"No," the producer cut MiYoung off, "it sounds good the way it is. You don't have to sing perfectly onstage, that's just part of being an idol."

"Yoseob sings perfect on stage," HyunSeung pouted. The producer just yawned while shrugging his shoulders.

"I think you'll do great," DongWoon assured him, "You always nail the lives."

HyunSeung gave him a blank look. DongWoon was being sincere, but HyunSeung must have had some stage presence problems, because DooJoon laughed and Yoseob elbowed him.

"He gets really nervous," DongWoon explained.

"Not _really_ nervous," HyunSeung defended, "just butterflies…"

"No," DongWoon smiled, "it's full blown nerves."

HyunSeung just smiled shyly. JunHyung and KiKwang were talking to the producer about some other aspect of the song, and Yoseob was searching for a part in the song.

"Guys, listen to this," he played the part where he held his two long notes.

"Yeah, we get it," DooJoon laughed, "You got pipes."

"Let's see you do it onstage!" HyunSeung tried to shake Yoseob's nerves, but he smiled.

"I'm so pumped for this song. It's good, isn't it, SooYun?" Yoseob asked. He had a smile you couldn't say no to, so I just smiled back and nodded, dazed. Until then, I had just been a part of the background. I didn't think any of them actually cared what I had to say. I laughed to myself. They probably didn't.

"You don't talk very much, do you?" DongWoon asked me quietly with a nudge while everyone else continued to talk.

I shrugged, "I guess not."

"That's a shame," he looked from me to the group in front of us, "I'm sure you've got a lot to say. Why else would you be here?"

I was stunned momentarily from his words. And then I took a good look at him. He was a lot taller than me, and his shaggy black hair needed to be washed. But he was incredibly handsome. He wasn't just the cute maknae, or the typical Korean idol. He was something different – something special.

He looked back at me, noticed that I was staring, and a smile crept on his face, "What is it? You gonna talk now?"

I bit off a smile, "Nah." It was his turn to look at me. I leaned against the wall and tried to wipe the smirk off my face.

By two, B2ST's schedule was over. HyunSeung told me he had to go home and rest for a little bit, but he'd call me when Haw got the song to him. Being the people pleaser I was, I told him that I was free anytime. He just winked. It made my heart flutter.

On the way back to our apartment, I asked MiYoung, "Why do they call B2ST a 'recycled' group?" I didn't remember where I heard it or who said it, but it made me curious.

"Well," she paused, "KiKwang was a solo artist that was popular in Japan for a little while, and JunHyung, DooJoon, and HyunSeung were all in other groups before B2ST."

My eyebrows raised involuntarily, "Really?" MiYoung nodded. "Well, they didn't mean it as an insult, did they? Whoever said that?"

MiYoung laughed, "How would you feel if you were called 'recycled'?"

"It depends I guess," I paused, "B2ST is doing really good, aren't they?"

"Yes, but it upset a lot of people, that comment," she shrugged, "so don't mention it."

I nodded. I checked my phone. HyunSeung still hadn't contacted me. It was already four, and I wondered if he was even going to want to meet today. Probably not. He was tired.

"Stop looking at your phone, creep," MiYoung teased, then added more caringly, "I'm sure he'll call you soon."

I nodded. So she knew. I couldn't help it. HyunSeung was really cute. And I'd always been so impressed by his dancing.

Around five, my phone was ringing. My heart took a leap out of my chest, but when I looked, it was not HyunSeung, but DongWoon.

"Hello?" I asked, more of a question than needed.

"Hey, SooYun?" he sounded like he just let out a groan.

"Yes, DongWoon?"

"What are you doing right now? My back is hurting again," he said quietly.

"Where does it hurt?" I asked, worried.

"Everywhere. All over. I took an hour long nap and I woke up 5 minutes ago and now it hurts bad."

I sighed, "Well you should probably see a real chiropractor, but I can come over for today," then I paused, "How old are you?"

"I'm 19, how about you?" he asked with a little more flirt in his tone than before.

"I'm 18, but if you're 19 you might just be growing some more. Still, it shouldn't hurt so bad…" I trailed off as I got some better clothes on.

"Do you know where our dorm is?" DongWoon asked, "Because I'm bad with directions."

"I know where it is, but can I even come in the main door?"

"Uh," he paused, "No. Call me when you get close, I'll tell you how to sneak in."

"I'm leaving now," I said, but he had already hung up.

"MiYoung, I'll be back later," I said through the bathroom door. She was painting her nails and the smell made me dizzy, so I always asked her to shut the door.

"Did HyunSeung call?" she asked in a monotone. She was concentrating.

"No, DongWoon. He's either really messed up his back or he's going through a growth spurt so –"

"Wait. Wait," the door swung open, "You're going all the way out there because DongWoon's back hurts?"

"He called me," I shrugged, "I don't mind. Maybe if HyunSeung sees me –"

"You look cute –"

"—he'll want to dance or something."

MiYoung smirked, "I'm sure that won't be the only thing he'll want."

I rolled my eyes and turned for the door before the smell of nail polish made me dizzy, "I'll call you when I'm on my way home."

"Don't get mauled by fans!" she joked.

I called DongWoon when I got close, like he asked, and he mumbled something about the back of the building and a blue door. When I got to the back of the building, there were two blue doors. One was locked, so I went in the other one, but it led to some descending stairs. I called DongWoon again, and he sighed.

"Someone must have locked it last night. There's a key hidden in one of the rocks by the door. Tell me when you find it."

"_In_ one of the rocks?" I asked.

"Just shake them, you'll hear it."

I obeyed, and then I found the one. I flipped it over and there was a small white latch. I opened it, and sure enough, there was a key inside.

"Make sure to put it back," DongWoon mumbled, "And thank you so much for coming."

"Which floor are you?" I asked once reaching the secret elevator, "and I don't mind coming at all."

"It should be labeled, but I think it's the 8th or 9th or something."

It was labeled. It was the 10th floor.

"I'll be right there," I assured him, "are you laying down already? Because if you are, make sure you send someone else to the door, I don't want you to move."

"That's not a problem," he laughed, then called out, "Hey, someone go open the door for my masseuse!"

"Masseuse? Really?" I laughed. DongWoon let out a chuckle, too, and then I hung up.

Yoseob let me in, smiled pleasantly, and said, "What're you doing here, trainee?"

"My dad is chiropractor," I said simply, "and poor maknae has some back trouble."

"He was moaning about it this morning, but I figured the medicine would help," DooJoon's face from behind Yoseob suddenly turned very motherly, "What do you think is wrong with it?"

"He's growing, probably," I shrugged, "but I can sort out most of the problem."

"Why not all of it?" Yoseob teased. DooJoon knocked him on the back of the head, and he protested, "Yah, I'm just joking!"

I chuckled and DooJoon led me to DongWoon. He was sprawled out on the floor of the bedroom. He looked very uncomfortable."

I sighed sadly at him, then asked DooJoon nicely, "May I use one of the mattresses on these beds?"

"Of course," he was so worried looking as he helped me pull the mattress off one of the beds on the end, then placed it on the floor by DongWoon, who scooted onto it. I pushed up my sleeves and started to feel DongWoon's back. Sure enough, it was pretty out of line.

"You know, all the dancing and standing around all the time, and not sleeping a lot…" I looked over at DooJoon, "for someone who's growing like DongWoon, it's not good for his joints."

DooJoon nodded, "Does he need to see a doctor more regularly then?"

I shrugged, "If it keeps coming back, yes. If it goes away in a week or so, then I wouldn't worry."

He nodded, "DongWoon, do you want anything to drink?"

"No," DongWoon sighed. I was using careful hands to work out the kinks in his back, and his breathing got heavier and heavier. DooJoon just stood with his arms cross across his chest, leaning against the doorway. It was like he was supervising.

"What's going on in here?" JunHyung crept up and gave me this absolutely _heart stopping_ smirk.

"Poor maknae has some back problems," DooJoon said with a pout, "and trainee has a chiropractor dad."

"Me next?" JunHyung laughed, "HyunSeung! Your little prodigy is here!" he yelled over his shoulder, then turned back to me, "Wanna cook dinner while you're here, too?"

I gave a sarcastic laugh, "DongWoon? Does it hurt when I put – DongWoon, wake up for a minute," I tapped his forehead, which wrinkled, and he squinted, "Does it hurt when I put pressure here?"

"A little," he mumbled, "My lower back is what's bothering me the most."

I nodded, "I figured."

"Can you fix it?"

"I have before, but not on a guy," I said, "The alignment of your hips is causing this back pain. But boy hips and girl hips are different," I trailed off, "and it will take more than one session. You might want to look into a chiropractor, DooJoon."

"I'm DongWoon," DongWoon mumbled.

"I know, I was talking to DooJoon because he was talking about taking you to the doctor," I laughed and moved my hands to his shoulders. He needed to relax, the tenseness was another problem for him.

"What do you think, DongWoon?" DooJoon asked. Before I knew it, HyunSeung was in the doorway as well.

"I don't know yet," he sighed, "But SooYun, you have magic hands."

I laughed, "It's a gift," I said jokingly.

"How come DongWoon gets special treatment?" HyunSeung asked, winking at me. My heart did its weird flutter thing again.

"His back hurts because he's growing," DooJoon said.

"Well, he needs to stop eating so much," JunHyung nagged, "if he didn't eat all the food all the time, he wouldn't grow so much. And another thing, DongWoon, stop leaving a mess everywhere?" I laughed because he sounded like the father figure, but he continued, "I'm serious! SooYun, you should see it. He leaves nasty dishes under his bed for weeks –"

"Not on purpose," DongWoon protested, "I put them on the floor while I'm reading or something and then they get knocked under there!"

"Oh please, you don't read," HyunSeung laughed. I avoided looking at his smile.

"Yeah I do, go look under my bed," DongWoon pointed, but JunHyung and HyunSeung made noises of protests.

"No thanks, I don't want to die of some foreign disease from dishes under there," JunHyung laughed.

"There aren't any, I'm looking right now," DongWoon said, "You're all making me more tense, go away."

DooJoon gasped, then turned and left, JunHyung and HyunSeung followed. I made sure to get one last look as HyunSeung walked away, every movement his body made like a graceful dance in itself. I wished to be like that.

"So, SooYun," DongWoon said peacefully, "Why are you here?"

"You called me," I laughed.

"No, not that," he rested his head on his arm and looked at me, "Why do you want to be famous?"

I was quiet. That question was one that I'd given too much thought to, but my answer was never one that I could fully explain. I took a deep breath, "Do you ever finish a performance in front of a big crowd and just feel like you're on top of the world?"

"Every time I get on stage," he said with a spacey smile.

"That's how I feel when I dance. That's how I feel when I make music. Whether by myself or in front of people, it gives me that feeling in my stomach, my heart. And the way I see it, the only way for that to be useful is to make sure that feeling reaches as many people as it can," I paused. He was staring at me, but I felt like I should keep quiet.

"You've got a good brain," he tapped his forehead; "The other guys would like you."

I let out a quiet laugh, then adjusted the way he was laying. For another 10 minutes, I worked out the wacky alignment of his hips, listening to the sounds he was making to make sure it wasn't painful. He was slipping into sleep, and I wondered how much sleep he was getting. When I finished, I gently woke him, "You can go back to sleep, but you need to be on a bed with a pillow."

"No, I should probably get up, anyway," he sat up and leaned on his hands, just looking at me.

"Well, if that's all you needed, I should go," I stood up and brushed off my knees, "It was good to –"

"You're leaving? Just like that?" he gave me this puppy look that made me hesitate, "But I haven't paid you back yet."

I laughed, "You don't have to pay me back."

"Yes I do, you came all the way out here, it can't be for nothing," he said with a sad frown.

"Did you have something in mind?" I put my hand on my hip and scratched the back of my head.

"Well," he paused, let his mouth hang open, then snapped back to me, "I'll take you to get ice cream."

"Yeah right!" I laughed, "What if your fans see you?"

"I'll wear a hat and glasses," he shrugged.

"You're probably the most distinct member in the group, and you think a hat and glasses is going to work as a disguise?" I laughed.

He didn't argue anymore, but he gave me this look that made me feel like I had a lot ahead of me. He held his hand out and I shook it, but he used me to pull himself up, groaning loudly as he did.

"You're leaving?" KiKwang asked while I passed through, "I didn't even get to talk to you."

"And she won't even let me pay her back," DongWoon whined.

"She must have some ulterior motive for doing it then," JunHyung blocked the door, "Did she take any pictures or anything?"

"Let's see," HyunSeung spun around me and when I looked at him, my phone was in his hands. I rolled my eyes; there was nothing on there worth looking at.

"Anything juicy? Naked pictures?" JunHyung teased, looking over HyunSeung's shoulder.

"No, nothing," he looked disappointed, "who's this old couple?"

"My grandparents," I reached for my phone but he spun again, "there's nothing on there."

"You really love your grandmother, huh?" HyunSeung smiled at me, as if what he was saying was to tease me.

"I don't see the harm in that," I stood awkwardly.

"They're always like this," Yoseob leaned against the kitchen counter next to me, "Guys, let the poor girl go home."

"Oh hey, wait," HyunSeung dropped my phone into JunHyung's hand, "we're supposed to dance, aren't we?"

"I didn't know if you wanted to do that today or not," I said simply, "We can get started whenever, I don't really care."

"You're full of it," JunHyung said, "Just look at your face. You've been waiting for him to ask. That's the real reason you're here."

"No, it's not. I'm here because DongWoon called me and—"

"Yeah, yeah, it gave you the perfect opportunity to show up and remind Seungie to dance with you," DooJoon teased, "It's okay, trainee, he's used to the ladies being so in love with him."

HyunSeung laughed and I know I was turning progressively more red as I got more and more defensive.

"Leave her alone," DongWoon grabbed my phone, then my shoulders and steered me toward the door, "HyunSeung will call you if he wants to dance. Thanks for coming over. I'll pay you back somehow, I promise."

"Now you're the one rushing me out," I teased.

"We'll see you later, okay?" DongWoon sounded really frustrated at something. I just went along with what he said because I didn't want to piss him off. He opened the door and I turned to face him.

"Call me if it starts hurting later," I said, "or just take some medicine and soak in the bath or something, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," he shifted his eyes away, "See you around. Have fun with HyunSeung."

"Or just call me whenever," I shrugged, "I might have more to talk about."

He hesitated on closing the door in my face, and his face turned up a little before he said, "Well, later then, SooYun."

"Later," I smiled involuntarily as I turned to make my way down the elevator and out the back door.

I tried anything to keep B2ST out of my head for the rest of the day, but I couldn't help glancing at my inactive phone every few minutes.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_I don't own B2ST or CUBE and don't claim any part of their cool thing they got going. I'm just a chick with too much time and imagination. I hope I can at least entertain you, the reader, the most important part of this story. :3_

**Chapter Three**

"Every day I shock, SHOCK," MiYoung sang in my face on the way to the CUBE building, "Every night I shock, SHOCK!"

"Will you quiet down?" I nudged her, "You're too pretty to draw attention to yourself."

"Come to me, OH, OH, OH, TONIGHT SO, SO CRAZY," tried to do the dance moves to the song but it was a fail, "Come BACK, BACK, BACK TO ME."

"I'm not joking," I laughed, "you're going to make a fool of yourself."

She smiled and shrugged, slightly out of breath, "I need to start working out. I lose my breath too fast."

"You know what a really good way to work out is?" she gave me this eye roll that almost made me stop, but I said it anyway; "Dancing."

"Yes, we get it," HyunSeung was suddenly behind us toward the elevator, "Dancing is better than singing. But you're going to have to get over it; you have to do both."

"How are you today oppa?" MiYoung flirted.

HyunSeung looked at her once, smiled, then back at me, "I'm doing really good now." And with that, he passed the elevator and headed for the main office. MiYoung had an impressed look on her face as she elbowed me. I shrugged it off. HyunSeung and I had been working on a routine for almost a week now, and MiYoung was finding more and more ways for us to hang out with B2ST. Of course they rarely worked out.

This morning we were heading to see a few auditions. Our manager, SungYoon Kim, also known as Yoonie, was confident that a few girls had become much better. Even so, we had a voice lesson after that and then I had to go dance with HyunSeung. My mind wasn't even in the dimly lit trainee room.

There was a girl who stood in front of one of the new managers that I didn't know. She was about to begin her song, and I took a deep breath.

"My name is Mika Kim," she said in a soft voice. I already lost hope. She wasn't confident.

"Go ahead when you're ready—"

"I was hoping I could use the piano," she looked around nervously as someone brought her the keyboard.

"Go ahead when you're ready, Mika," the manager oppa said.

Yoonie nudged us, "This girl is good."

I waited as she played a few opening chords to a song I'd heard before but couldn't place. When she began to sing, I knew it was a Lady Gaga song from the fact it was in English. She had introduced it, but she was speaking too quietly. I listened to her belt the words as best she could, but she was trying too hard and in the end, it was coming off overdone and messy. I did hear potential in her, though. As she finished, the manager dismissed her and called the next girl up. Yoonie waved Mika toward us, who looked frightened and excited at the same time.

"MiYoung, SooYun," Yoonie said, "This is Mika Kim. Critique her performance."

MiYoung looked uncertain, too scared to say anything to the girl of maybe 17, but maybe my age.

"Well," I hesitated, "You have talent but you're trying to hit notes that are either out of your range or too much for whatever you're trying to accomplish," I paused, "It was good, but you need to use your own voice to your own advantage." She was eating it up. She nodded enthusiastically, and a picture of her with a note bad and a pen popped into my head.

"Good," Yoonie said, "Now, SooYun, you're doing a performance today."

"I am?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. It had been months since they'd put me in front of the audition camera. When Yoonie nodded, I asked, "When?"

"In the next few minutes. You're not mad at me?" he asked, "You're so unprepared!"

I shrugged, "I don't mind. What song am I singing?"

"That's up to you," he winked. I sighed. I tried to think of songs I knew on the piano, but none were girl songs. When it was my turn, I introduced myself and picked out a track from a Wonder Girls disc and sang it the best I could. The new manager nodded and called the next person up. Yoonie and MiYoung were still talking to Mika.

"Now, Mika," Yoonie said as I rejoined the group, "Critique SooYun."

She looked horribly nervous, but I smiled at her, assuring her it'd be fine, "Well," she began, "You're not aiming to 'wow' anyone. You settle with the bare minimum. You should try exploring your pipes more, because they sound like they have a lot more talent than they're given credit for."

Yoonie blinked, and I followed. One performance told her all that?

"I see where she gets that," MiYoung said, her mouth coming slightly open, "I never thought about it. I just thought you had small range."

I frowned, but MiYoung just shrugged.

"You three," Yoonie covered his mouth momentarily, "I think we want to go as a group to vocal coaching today. Let's see how you three can sound together."

"Just the three of us?" MiYoung asked. She knew something.

"Yes," Yoonie said, still in deep thought, "Just the three of you."

So after we sat in on a few more auditions, we had to leave for vocal coaching. I knew this Mika girl was freaking out. She didn't know whether to get her hopes up or not.

"So, Mika… That's a Japanese name, isn't it?" I asked nicely.

She nodded, "My mother is Japanese, my father is Korean. I'm named after my grandmother."

"That's nice," I smiled. She seemed shy and young, "How old are you Mika?"

"I'm 20, how about you?" she asked cutely. I was astonished. She was two years older than me.

"I'm uh. I'm 18," I paused, "You're 20? Really?"

"You're not the only one I've shocked," she giggled a bit, "but yes, I'm really 20. Why?"

"You seem so innocent and young. I thought for sure I was older than you."

Mika just smiled. I was trying to make her feel less nervous but I doubt it would work. The four of us rode up the elevator in complete silence. There was this calming yet tense air about us. The reflection of the three girls on the elevator walls was charismatic looking. Mika, who was a little taller than me, stood on one side of MiYoung, who was the tallest, and I stood on the other side and slightly in front of her. Our faces were a good mix of everything a girls group needed. Mika was the shy and cute one, but she had a serious side. MiYoung was the outgoing, sporty, beautiful one with the powerhouse voice and naturally playful nature. And I was… I was the other stuff I guess. I knew I fit in with these two but I didn't know how. Who was I in this group? Was I just the quiet one? I obviously had something if I got into this group. I didn't think I was ugly or anything, but was I pretty? And I knew I was talented, but did I have a gift?

Once we introduced Mika to the voice coach, we got to singing a few warm-ups before Yoonie and the coach were both smiling widely. They started making us try harmonies, holding one solid note for a long time. I was the higher part of the harmony because MiYoung's voice needed to be the melody since she had the most powerful voice. It wasn't that she couldn't hit the high notes, because she could. Mika had a very sultry voice that made you feel warm from the inside. She didn't reflect that side of her in her audition this morning.

"I think you three might be ready for a debut," the vocal coach smiled, "Can any of you rap, even just a little?"

"Rap?" MiYoung laughed, "What for?"

Yoonie smiled, "Not like boys rapping, like…"

"Like keeping a beat with your voice?" I asked. I didn't really know how else to describe it.

"Yes!" Yoonie pointed at me, "Can you?"

"I believe so," I shrugged, "I've been listening to enough hip-hop lately."

"Let's hear it," the vocal coach said, "Do you know JunHyung's part in.."

"Shock, obviously," MiYoung laughed.

"Have you heard their song Easy? That's what we're looking for," Yoonie shrugged. I remembered the part in my head before attempting it out loud. MiYoung gave me a weird look, and Mika nodded her head, impressed.

"Here's the thing," Yoonie smiled, "We need a trio girls group. All these groups have 5 or more members. I think with you three, three might be the magic number."

"So you think we're ready for debut?" MiYoung smiled hopefully.

"Oh god no," he laughed, "You need to collaborate on songs, you need to learn to work together, build yourselves a nice platform, become a family," he waved, "the debut will come later.

Mika looked like she was in an alternate reality, but nodded along with Yoonie. MiYoung looked slightly annoyed that we had to spend more time waiting. But at least we were practicing for a purpose. I didn't know how I felt. This was all too good to be true, but at the same, it didn't feel as intense or exciting as I thought.

Yoonie went on and on about writing songs and coming up with our image. I knew we'd get this information again later, but Yoonie had too much to do, so he just kinda left us. After working more with the vocal coach, we had to leave so the next group could come in. MiYoung told Mika that she could come see our apartment, but HyunSeung texted me and said he had some free time to work on the dance for Prepix. I parted with MiYoung and Mika and joined HyunSeung. He was in B2ST's main practice room talking to Yoseob, who looked like he was on his way out. He had on a cap and his bag was slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, trainee," Yoseob greeted me with his heart-stopping smile.

"Not anymore," I smiled, "The group is complete."

"You found 3 other members in one day?" HyunSeung laughed.

I shook my head, "They want us to be a trio. I hope they change the name."

Yoseob laughed, "God me, too."

HyunSeung laughed awkwardly and stared at Yoseob, "So you were leaving now?"

"Yes, yes," he stumbled over his words, "I was leaving, well, I am leaving, I'm going to Oh My School.. You've seen that show, haven't you? You have. I'm sure you have. I'm leaving. Sorry. Later."

HyunSeung hid his smile and Yoseob waved awkwardly before he was gone completely, "Ready?" he bent over by the speakers, ready to play the song we were to dance to. I simply nodded. I was in dance mode. I looked at myself in the mirror, putting myself in deep concentration. The music didn't start. I looked at HyunSeung, and he was just staring at me. I looked around awkwardly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Nothing," HyunSeung still didn't take his eyes away. I took this opportunity to roll the legs of my sweat pants up tightly around my knees. It was a little warm in here, but even warmer with HyunSeung staring at me.

"What is it?" I finally asked, a nervous laugh escaping with my words.

"It's nothing," he laughed, "You're just really pretty today."

My heart was in my throat; I could feel it beating there. I just let out a low chuckle and said, "Just today, huh?"

HyunSeung smirked, and then pressed the play button. There was a 5 second gap so he could get in position, and suddenly I wasn't pretty and he wasn't charming. We weren't SooYun and HyunSeung, we were nothing. We broke down. We danced because it's what the music made us do. We did the routine until it was perfect because neither of us would be able to leave otherwise. Once it was perfect, HyunSeung sat in the middle of the floor. He was sweaty, having taken off his top shirt to leave only a white tank top. He was muscular, as I'm sure idols have to be. I took a seat, too, adjusting my side ponytail to a bun on the top of my head if not simply to cool off my neck.

"Hair," HyunSeung laughed, "You girls and _hair._"

I just shrugged and smiled. It drove him crazy. When he leaned forward, his face was only inches from mine. He leaned closer, but went down. I had no idea what he was doing. I felt his nose and breath on my neck and collar, and then he came back.

"Just as I thought," he said quietly, "You smell nice."

The next silent moments were awkward. HyunSeung fell onto his back and spread his arms on the wood floor. I pulled my knees to my chin and held my feet by the toes, rocking on my butt. I rested my face on my knees and watched HyunSeung. He had his eyes closed and his chest was moving steadily up and down. My heart was still racing from our closeness. Not just when he leaned into me, but even now.

"Wanna try something?" he asked. The way he shot up from laying down to standing up made it obvious of how powerful a dancer he could be.

"Sure," I stood up and dusted my backside off. Before I knew it, HyunSeung's hands were holding my face and he was kissing me.

For a first kiss, it was strange. I didn't know how to react, my eyes were frozen open in shock, and HyunSeung just held our lips together for a few moments. When he let me go, he looked just as confused as me.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't even try," he frowned, "I'm not dumb, SooYun, I know you wanted me to do that."

I was confused, "I did?"

"Of course," HyunSeung took my hand, "I see the way you look at me. Your eyes tell me everything. Haven't you been kissed before?"

I paused, "No."

HyunSeung half-smiled, sending my heart to loop. He gently put his hand on my cheek and tried to kiss me again. I closed my eyes. I sorta melted into it. The more I melted, the more HyunSeung pushed into me. He curled his hand around to the back of my neck and moved the other around my waist. I felt oddly uncomfortable. Was this what I was expecting? The way he was touching me made me feel strange. He wasn't interested in how I felt at all. He was interested in how my body felt under his touch. His hand on my waist started to slink around me slowly. His lips were becoming more and more urgent, impatient even. I pulled away, tucking my chin to my chest and taking a step back.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said simply.

He nodded, "Well I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded, too. And just like that, HyunSeung put his shirt and jacket on, grabbed his gym bag, and was gone. I felt strange. I didn't feel like I just got kissed, and I especially didn't feel like I just got kissed by my idol. I gathered my stuff; my phone was on the floor next to my water bottle, and my bag was hanging on a hook in the back. My phone had two new messages. The first was from MiYoung.

( There's talk about us getting a dorm. )

The second was from DongWoon.

( My back is killing me, but I'm at a radio interview right now. Can you ride home with HyunSeung and meet me at the dorm? )

I guess it was too late for that, so I went ahead and started walking there. I called HyunSeung on the way, but he didn't answer, so I texted him.

( Is DongWoon home yet? He's having back issues. )

His reply was simply ( No. )

I decided to wait inside the back door, knowing that's where DongWoon would come in once he returned. While I waited, I thought about HyunSeung. What the hell was that all about? He ambushed me with lust. I reacted normally. It was from the shock of it all. Right? I did what anyone would've done.

After an hour of waiting, I had fallen asleep against a stack of plastic boxes with all kinds of maintenance crap in them. My face stuck to the plastic from the heat, and my legs were tucked under me. It wasn't comfortable, but I was tired from dancing with HyunSeung and the events of the day.

"Is she alive?" I finally woke up to someone nudging me with their foot.

"She's moving!" I recognized DongWoon's voice and tried to sit up. Sitting up required me to peel my face from the plastic, which made a nasty ripping noise and left half of my face red. When I looked up at the three pairs of legs in front of me, I saw DongWoon, JunHyung, and their manager, Park.

"I was waiting for you and I fell asleep," I explained, standing up quickly, "I'm sorry."

"You were waiting here?" DongWoon asked, concerned.

"Haha, you fell asleep?" JunHyung laughed, "You haven't even debuted yet."

"HyunSeung left before I read your text," I explained, "And I didn't want to bother anyone upstairs."

Park was frowning at the red mark on my face, "Does that hurt?"

"Yes," I held it, "You okay DongWoon?"

He shook his head, "Standing is hard, walking is harder."

"He's being a real baby," JunHyung rolled his eyes.

Park pushed him and said, "He's not. If you were in pain, you'd be worse." JunHyung just rolled his eyes and pressed the button for the elevator. I took that time to talk to Park about maybe getting DongWoon to a chiropractor.

"Well," Park huffed, "I tried, but DongWoon said he wanted you –"

"Because," DongWoon interrupted, "it would be silly to see a chiropractor when you already know what's wrong and how to fix it."

"That's a lie," JunHyung mumbled, but DongWoon pushed him to one side. He just laughed.

"But DongWoon," I said, "A chiropractor knows more than I do."

DongWoon shrugged, "Your hands are warm. Doctors have cold hands."

"What if we just hired a massage therapist to come once a week?" Park suggested.

"That'd be a waste of money, plus you never know, fans could get involved in that to try to get to us, that's creepy," DongWoon said, "and besides, then everyone would want massages, and it would cost even more money."

"But plenty of groups do it," Park said, "No one would care."

The elevator doors opened and we stepped on. JunHyung was wearing thick framed glasses and a flat rim hat. DongWoon was just wearing a black beanie. His shag was sticking out and flipping upwards. It was adorable. Park must have seen me looking because he smiled.

"They're getting hair and stuff done tomorrow," Park laughed, "Aren't you excited, maknae?"

"No," DongWoon put both hands on his hat, "I don't like getting my hair cut."

What a typical 19 year old boy thing to say. I couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"What do you think, SooYun?" JunHyung winked at me.

"It's pretty long," I said thoughtfully, "That's not bad or anything, but it's been long for a while, hasn't it?"

DongWoon shrugged, locking eyes with me. I almost fell into them before I looked away. I heard a quiet chuckle from where DongWoon stood. Hopefully it wasn't at me.

HyunSeung wasn't home when we got inside. Neither was KiKwang or Yoseob. Just DooJoon. He was asleep on the couch, and JunHyung took the remote from him and flipped through channels. DongWoon was walking fine, but he groaned when moving the mattress from his bed to the floor like last time. He took off his jacket and pulled his grey t-shirt over his head. I froze, but I tried to look normal. DongWoon noticed my stun, and he soaked in it, taking his time to pull his arms out of the shirt and fold the shirt, making sure I was watching his body. And God, I was.

"You don't need to take your clothes off," I said as steadily as possible.

DongWoon hid a smile, but I saw it playing at the corners of his mouth, "Well it's too late now."

I was so scared that he'd feel my palms getting clammy, so as soon as he laid down, I wiped them on my pants. I took a deep breath as quietly as possible and got started.

"Your hands are soft," DongWoon said after a few minutes. When I didn't say anything, I guess he took it that I was concentrating on his back. But I wasn't. I was doing everything in my power to, but it wasn't working. I even tried to think about HyunSeung kissing me. Maybe the best way to do that would be to mention it.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked. DongWoon grunted, so I took that as a yes and continued. "What would you do if someone you respect… tried something with you?"

"What do you mean by 'tried something'?" his tone changed from the innocent maknae tone to a protective tone that I didn't usually hear.

"Well," I tried to dance around it, "I was doing some stuff today with someone, and this person.. just sorta.. "

"Who was it?" he asked, sitting up slightly, "And what did they sorta do?"

"Lay back down," I paused and could feel his muscles tensing. "HyunSeung. He kissed me."

DongWoon sat up quickly, "What? Why?"

"Lay back do—"

"No, SooYun," he sounded angry, "why'd he kiss you? Did you want him to?"

"No," I said quietly, "I don't know why he did it. It was really weird."

"So you didn't kiss him back?"

I shrugged, and DongWoon took a deep breath, "Did you?"

"I don't know," I shrugged bigger, "I really don't know. I've never kissed anyone before."

DongWoon paused, a smile creeping on his lips, "You haven't?"

I shook my head, "And when HyunSeung did that, at first I was like.. Wow, my idol! And then it felt uncomfortable."

"You've really never kissed anyone?" DongWoon sorta chuckled.

"No," I huffed, "laugh if you want, but I haven't."

"I didn't mean to laugh," DongWoon said with a shy smile on his face, "I just think it's cute."

Silence. It wasn't uncomfortable.

"So about HyunSeung," DongWoon sighed, "I want to kick his ass for doing that to you… but I guess my only advice is for you to," he shrugged, "Stay away from him."

"But I can't," I said quietly.

DongWoon nodded in understanding. Another silence.

"Did you like it?" he asked.

"Like what?"

"The kiss," he chuckled.

"Oh," I paused, "I don't think so."

DongWoon looked at me like I was stupid, "You don't _think_ so?"

"Well, it just felt weird," I said, "Not that kissing felt weird, but.. The way he did it didn't feel right…" There was a long pause, "I don't know why I'm even talking about this."

DongWoon looked at his hands shyly, "Maybe because you trust me enough to talk about it."

I looked away, too. Of course I trusted him. I knew I was blushing, though.

"What would you do if I kissed you like HyunSeung did?" the way DongWoon asked made me believe it was a joke and that he was just teasing me. But it didn't save me from embarrassment. Instead of answering, I just cracked my knuckles and pointed to the mattress again. DongWoon laughed and laid back down on his stomach.

"You know, if this whole idol thing doesn't work," DongWoon said sleepily after a while, "you should be a massage therapist. You're already good at it."

"That's all you want me for anyway," I teased, which was unlike me. DongWoon laughed, though. It wasn't a laugh of agreement. It was a laugh that made me bite my tongue.

After I finished, I helped DongWoon get the mattress on whoever's bed he took it from. JunHyung was asleep on the floor watching the same program on TV as before, and DooJoon was snoring a little. As I found my way to the door, DongWoon called after me in a whisper.

"Hey, SooYun-nee," he whisper-shouted, "Wait there a second." He disappeared back into the bedroom and came back out with something in his hand. "Take this," he whispered and forced a wad of cash into my hands.

"No, I can't take this," I said quietly, "It was just a favor."

"It's my repayment," he spoke softly, "You've done a lot for me."

"I don't want money, oppa," I whispered, "You'll have to be more creative than that."

"How about a kiss?" he teased.

"Even more creative than that," I shook my head, "You know someone's already beaten you to that one." DongWoon smiled at me and tried to force my hand around the money, but I just thrust it back at him, "I don't want it."

"Fine," he whispered, "I'll use it toward my creativity."

I rolled my eyes, "See you around, oppa."

DongWoon smirked and backed away, "Get outta here."

The walk home made me clear my head. No more B2ST. No more B2ST.

My phone rang. I swore to myself that if it was anyone in B2ST I wouldn't answer. Thankfully, it was Yoonie.

"Yooooniiieeeee," I answered delighted.

"You're in a good mood," Yoonie said, "Should I be concerned? Are you doing something you're not supposed to be doing?"

"No," I laughed, "What'dya want?"

"Are you at home? I want to pick you and MiYoung up and take you to dinner with Mika. Do you want anything in particular?" he asked.

"I'm not at home, I don't want anything in particular, but as long as we keep it spicy, that's good."

"Where are you?" Yoonie asked, half shocked that I wasn't at home.

"I was at dance practice for the Prepix thing," it wasn't a lie. I _was_ practicing for a while.

"Wow, you guys are working hard then, huh," Yoonie said rhetorically, "When will you be home? Do you need to shower?"

"In five minutes, and yes I need to shower."

"Good, I'll call MiYoung and you get ready. Wear something nice," and with that, Yoonie hung up.

When I got home, MiYoung greeted me despite being on the phone with Yoonie, and I headed for the shower. Getting ready never took me long, so I was ready to go in 15 minutes. It was perfect, because Yoonie got there 5 minutes later.

We went out to eat at a family restaurant that MiYoung and Yoonie loved a lot. Mika was quiet, which was good because I was quiet, too. I really didn't want to be here. I wanted to be at home to tell MiYoung what had happened with HyunSeung.

"Are you really going to eat all that, SooYun?" Yoonie asked, raising an eyebrow when they brought us our food.

"I-I don't know," I stammered, "I haven't eaten today, but.."

Yoonie shrugged, "You don't really need to gain any weight. In fact, it might do you some good to lose a few pounds."

MiYoung looked at Yoonie, then me, then at the table. This was just part of the business, and I knew it would happen to me. I just wasn't expecting it to make me feel so self-conscious.

"It's too spicy," Mika said quietly and took a big sip of her drink.

"There you go, SooYun! Spicy!" Yoonie smiled as if nothing had happened, taking a big bite of his food. I forced a smile, but my food didn't look at all appetizing. I ate a few bites, but it wasn't sitting well in my stomach. I knew it was psychological, but I didn't stop it. Not if I needed to lose a few pounds.

Yoonie took MiYoung and I home, and I went straight for my bed.

"Soo-nee," MiYoung sat at the edge of my bed, "You know he just wants us to be perfect."

"I know," I said, "I'm just exhausted." I rolled over on my back and faced her. She looked like such a mother.

"You sure?"

I forced a smile, "You won't believe what happened with HyunSeung today." I told her everything that happened (and about DongWoon, too, but she wasn't interested in him).

"Maybe oppa likes you," MiYoung smiled, "That'd be cute. Your role model falling in love with you."

"It didn't feel like he was kissing me," I said, unsure how to explain it, "It just felt like he was kissing someone because someone was there. Do you know what I mean?"

MiYoung stared blankly at me, "Not really."

I shrugged and took a deep breath, "We'll just see. I doubt things would get awkward with HyunSeung, but I'll be cautious anyway."

MiYoung smiled and patted my leg before getting up, "Wanna watch TV for a little bit?"

"Nah," I said simply. MiYoung nodded and shut the door. She'd be back for her bunk later. I slept on the bottom because the top freaked me out. I sat up and looked in the mirror. I wasn't a stick, but I honestly didn't see what made me need to lose a few pounds. I stood up and turned to the side, I lifted up my shirt, even, and still couldn't find anything wrong. My stomach was flat, even a little muscular. The only thing that could possibly be wrong was my legs, but when I touched them, they were mostly muscle, too. I wasn't about to stop dancing. But not eating as much would trim all the fat away. I sighed. I should be confident looking in the mirror, but I couldn't be confident in my appearance if I wanted to be a star. I had to be constantly keeping myself thin and cute and girly. It was the price I pay for wanting this so bad. I thought about all of my unnies at CUBE, and all of the girls I looked up to, that I wanted to be like. They were all so small and so covered in makeup and so fake. The thought made me sick as I got back in bed.

I had nightmares about being fat that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **_I don't own B2ST or CUBE and don't claim any part of their cool thing they got going. I'm just a chick with too much time and imagination. I hope I can at least entertain you, the reader, the most important part of this story. :3_

**Chapter 4**

After a collaboration of ideas from several parties, CUBE renamed our "official" group. Our new name was BERRI. In addition to that, they gave me a stage name, "Sammy."

"SooYun just doesn't sound like a lady rapper. You need to be…" Yoonie began, but I finished for him.

"Fresh," I said in English. He nodded enthusiastically.

MiYoung decided to go with the name "Mi Yun" on stage, because in her mind, it sounded prettier. Mika kept her name because it was unique.

DooJoon seemed very excited about our debut, but we knew he was really just excited to see MiYoung when he came around.

"Good luck with your debut," he'd tell Mika and me, and then spend 30 minutes talking to MiYoung. I hoped that something would happen between them. It was easy to hide relationships in the company because if label-mates are seen together or talk about each other, no one suspects anything.

"How's HyunSeung?" MiYoung asked DooJoon loudly when they came closer to Mika and me again.

DooJoon shrugged, "He's always working so hard. Why, has SooYun decided she's in love with him?"

"No," I laughed.

"HyunSeung made a move on her," MiYoung smiled.

"So I've heard," DooJoon smiled slightly, then looked at me, "Be careful, though, SooYun. Seungie isn't the type of guy you want to get involved with."

"No one said anything about being involved," Mika defended me; "I don't even think SooYun gives a crap about any of it."

"I don't," I said lightly. It was half true.

"Okay, girls. We need to do some—DooJoon, you're not part of BERRI, get out of here," Yoonie held the door open for him and he hung his head and walked out, but not before winking at MiYoung on the way out.

"We need to do some practice," Yoonie could hardly contain himself, "There's talk of a documentary."

"Really?" MiYoung smiled, "I hope so!"

"I don't," I crossed my arms across my stomach.

"Are you still going on about that comment?" Yoonie asked, then sighed, "SooYun, you aren't fat. I'm sorry for suggesting otherwise."

It was the 8th time he apologized, but I know the only reason behind was because MiYoung told him I wasn't eating as much. I hadn't lost any weight yet, but I had been losing energy. As we were stretching, I was already tired. This was weird, because usually I could get up early and work out immediately.

"Maybe the answer is more sleep," I said to Mika. She raised her eyebrow, completely oblivious as to what I was talking about. I just shrugged my shoulders, so she did, too. MiYoung rolled her eyes at me while we get in position to start the new routine without music. Our dance coach was clapping his hands with every count. I finally felt better. Dancing always made me feel better. It was like I was a different person. The routine was simple and there wasn't a lot of room for freestyle, but I still felt good. I felt like I was home. I felt like I was me for the first time since… Since I was with DongWoon. Huh. That's an interesting thought. The thought didn't distract me until we took a short break, and I contemplated on whether or not to text him or not. I knew he was likely to be busy. If not, he probably wasn't even awake. It was about 10 o'clock.

I sent him a text anyway. ( Hey, how's your back? )

As soon as it sent, I felt a wave of regret. How's your back? How stupid could I get? _How's your back?_ It was so embarrassing that I almost didn't look when my phone vibrated. He texted back that soon?

( Funny you should ask… )

I smiled to myself. He was full of crap.

( You're awake! Busy schedule today? )

"What're you smiling about, Sammy?" MiYoung teased, taking my phone right as DongWoon texted back, then she read aloud, "Not at all, I just wanted to shower before hyungs got up and took the hot water. How about you?" she raised an eyebrow, "Are you chatting with Woonie?"

I shrugged, then snatched my phone back. I read the text for myself. Somehow it was cuter with his little emoticon faces.

"That's adorable," Mika smiled, "Maknae and maknae."

"Are you into him?" MiYoung looked surprised, "I thought you liked HyunSeung."

"I never said that," I rolled my eyes, "I don't see the big deal."

"So you do like him?" it was Yoonie who asked, an interested smile on his face.

I sighed and stood up, "No. He's just a friend." A really hot friend. Who I enjoyed the company of more than others. "Can we get back to dancing?"

"You're a liar," Yoonie teased, poking at my leg, "Go ahead, text him back."

"You know," Mika laughed, "You shouldn't be condoning the potential hookup, Yoonie."

"Shhh," he shushed her, "I know nothing of such relationships—"

"There will be no hookup," I said calmly, "or relationship. We're friends."

( Just rehearsing. I wanna debut already. T ^ T ) I texted DongWoon, since no one else was getting up.

Again, he texted back quicker than I expected, ( Do you want to hang out later? )

It took almost everything I had in me not to smile. ( Sure. I'll let you know when we're done for the day. ^_^ )

( I'll just wait here by the phone… ) he joked. I put my phone back down on top of my bag.

I started re-stretching before our coach came back to pump the routine into us again. Around 12, we finished and met with a songwriter. We didn't get a single thing accomplished. He just asked us what kind of style we wanted, and Yoonie answered for us. I was annoyed because I was looking forward to making our own music, our own style.. MiYoung promised me we could branch out and do that soon.

"Let the professionals handle our debut. Seriously, Soonah," she nudged me when I rolled my eyes, "Once we're out, you'll see."

"Is SooYun in here?" a small framed assistant from downstairs peeked in the room unexpectedly. I turned and raised my hand. She smiled and came in with a vase of the most beautiful lilies I'd ever seen. Tied around the vase was a purple ribbon. "These are for you."

Mika and MiYoung looked at each other. I knew my face was probably extremely red, and a goofy smile was on my face. There was a card tied onto one of the ends of the ribbon. I carefully untied it and opened it.

"For all the help you've given me. I couldn't give you roses, it's too common. You deserve something even more beautiful. Call me later. –DW"

MiYoung was reading over my shoulder, "YOONIE, THEY'RE FROM DONGWOON!"

"Seriously?" Mika hovered over and squealed with MiYoung.

"It's a thank you for a few favors I've done for him," I made sure to tell everyone, "It's nothing."

"Call me later?" Yoonie asked with a hidden smile, "He wants YOU to call HIM? It's cute how much he needs to learn."

"Anyway," I put the flowers on an end table near the door, "Are we singing at all today?"

Yoonie looked like he wanted to discuss this more, but he sighed, "Yes, but we're breaking for a quick lunch first."

My stomach had been growling for an hour, but I didn't let it get to me until Yoonie mentioned food.

"SooYun, will you please eat a reasonable amount?" MiYoung asked quietly, "I don't want to have to worry about you this early in our career."

I raised an eyebrow, "Worry?"

"Honestly, SooYun," Yoonie growled, "You're never going to lose weight if you boycott food altogether. Just eat. You're getting on my nerves."

I was quiet. Mika let a stifled laugh escape.

"I'm sorry," she laughed, "He just got so upset."

The tenseness in the air loosened because of her amusement and even Yoonie cracked a smile.

Later, all I could think about was hanging out with DongWoon. I texted him a simple thank you for the flowers, but he didn't reply until a lot later to tell me that they got their hair done today. At that time, I couldn't reply because we were busy trying to write a song with the songwriter. I hated the song so far. It was like SNSD's cute threw up on 4minute's hip-hop. After the session, when Yoonie was driving us back to our apartment, there was a strange air, and I felt like everyone knew the song was terrible.

"Can we all just try to write a better song tonight?" MiYoung asked.

"I'm game," Mika sighed, "I was hoping I wasn't the only one who thought it was stupid."

"Oh, girl," I laughed, "You definitely weren't the only one."

Yoonie sighed, "If you can write a good song in one night, we won't even need the songwriter. We meet with a couple of producers tomorrow… Develop a style and show them what you're capable of."

"No problem," MiYoung said, "We can totally all do it."

I nodded. She was bluffing. But we pretended to be confident anyway. Mika stayed with us and when we got inside, MiYoung started busting out laughing.

"We're _screwed_!" she laughed.

"I was going to hang out with DongWoon tonight," I pouted.

Mika perked up, "Wait! We can get Beast to help us!"

I blinked, and MiYoung shook her head, "No way. That would be ammunition."

"What do you mean by that?"

She looked between Mika and I like we were dumb, "Well, we can't ask for help so soon. We haven't even debuted. That's something they could hold over our heads. Besides, they're going to think we're useless."

"As of right now, we are," I admitted. MiYoung took a deep breath, and then pouted.

"Fine," she mumbled, "Maybe we could use the help. Call DongWoon."

When I opened my phone, he had texted me again. ( Are you going to be done soon? T^T )

I called him and he answered after the first ring, "Wow, look who it is."

I chuckled, "We're in a bit of a dilemma."

"Who is we and what kind of dilemma are you in? Are we still hanging out tonight?"

"Yes," I tried to sound completely innocent, "We need your help, and maybe the other oppas, too."

DongWoon paused for a minute, then chuckled, "What do you need?"

"We accepted a challenge of writing a song," I sighed, "and we need one to work with by tomorrow mor—"

"Say no more. JunHyung and I aren't doing anything, so we'll be there in… wait, we don't know where you live," DongWoon laughed.

"Well, we can meet on the corner by the CUBE building, it'll probably take both of us.. 10 minutes to get there?" I guessed. MiYoung and Mika were looking at me hopefully.

"Sure thing," DongWoon sounded so cute, I turned so no one saw me blush, "I can't wait."

"See you soon then," I hung up and took a deep breath, then turned to my unnies, "DongWoon and JunHyung are going to meet –"

"DooJoon isn't coming?" MiYoung looked disappointed, but Mika was beaming.

"No, but JunHyung is supposed to be a great songwriter!" Mika smiled, "This is great!"

"I hope they won't be recognized," MiYoung still sounded deflated, but once we had a song, she'd feel better.

All three of us met DongWoon and JunHyung at the corner I specified. The first thing I noticed was DongWoon's hair.

"Whoa," I reached for it. It was significantly shorter, and black again. It looked really good, but he didn't look pleased. "I like it! It looks so cool!" I said smiling widely. I had to stand on my toes to touch it, and it brought us into a very close proximity.

"Thank you for coming, oppa," MiYoung said to JunHyung, who smiled a little.

"It's my pleasure," he instantly became more approachable, with just a simple, squishy smile. Mika blushed a bit.

"You look really cute today, SooYun," DongWoon smiled and gave me a hug. I was a little surprised, but I couldn't help but smile, "Have you guys started dancing in heels yet? You're so short, they'll HAVE to put you in heels."

"I am not that short," I playfully punched him as we started walking, "You're just too tall."

"No," MiYoung said, "You're pretty short."

"Did SooYun tell you her stage name?" Mika teased.

DongWoon laughed quietly, "They gave you a stage name?"

"SAMMY~!" MiYoung announced, "I think it's perfect!"

JunHyung shrugged, "I've heard lots worse, that's for sure."

"I like it," DongWoon smiled, "Sammy." He repeated it another few times, then said, "But I like SooYun, also."

"Well I'm Mi Yun," MiYoung smiled, "How's that?"

"It's not that different from MiYoung," JunHyung teased, which caused MiYoung to elbow him.

We continued a very friendly conversation all the way to the small apartment. Before we left, we cleaned the place up just a little, but we were usually very clean people. DongWoon and JunHyung looked like they had walked into a doctor's office.

"I feel like I can't touch anything," DongWoon said before carefully taking a seat on the couch.

"Is this the first time you've been in a home of all women or something?" Mika teased.

"It's just so clean," DongWoon folded his hands on his knees and I took a seat next to him. I probably could've given him more space, but I felt more confident with his body next to mine like it was. Stupid, really, but I didn't mind.

JunHyung was walking around, putting his hands on everything, "If you guys have some pens and paper, let's get that out."

DongWoon rolled his eyes then glanced at me, "Did you have a good day?"

"It was tiring," I shrugged, "It was good up until we met with the songwriter. That was a terrible experience."

DongWoon pouted slightly, "I'm sorry."

"Is that when you bet you could write a better song?" JunHyung laughed. DongWoon awkwardly put his arm on the back of the couch behind me and laughed along with him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Mika said, "and that's why you're here."

"Not necessarily," DongWoon smiled, "I might've been here anyway."

Mika handed a few pieces of paper to JunHyung, who then took a seat on the floor, "What kind of sound are you going for?"

"Hip-hop, but not extremely," MiYoung shrugged.

"Not extremely pop, either," I cringed, "I can't do it."

JunHyung nodded, "You guys have to have a keyboard or something, right?"

MiYoung nodded, then looked at me, "SooYun could you –" When she saw DongWoon's arm on the back of the couch, she stopped and smiled, "I'll get it, actually."

JunHyung and Mika talked while MiYoung went back to our room to bring the keyboard.

"So, have you eaten dinner yet? Maybe after we write this song me and you can go get something to eat," DongWoon offered shyly.

I smiled, "Unless it takes us forever to get a song—"

"It won't," DongWoon said, "JunHyung is a genius. The flowers turned out really good, eh?" he pointed at the flowers I had put on the dining room table using the hand that was closest to my shoulder, which made him wrap his arm around me for a moment. I smiled and nodded. His effort was really cute.

"Mika, could you give me a hand with the wires?" MiYoung called from the back.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Mika winked at me discreetly. JunHyung sat awkwardly on the floor while DongWoon kept his arm awkwardly on the couch behind me. So much awkward.

"JunHyung! It's all tangled!" Mika called from the hall, "Can you come help us?"

JunHyung seemed to finally get it, "Of course!"

DongWoon coughed nervously, "They're doing this on purpose."

"I know," I chuckled, "I wonder what they think is going on."

"I know, right?" he laughed, "Because I mean… it's nothing. They're just being—"

"Ridiculous," I finished for him. It was quiet for a moment. I was expecting him to make a move, but he seemed too nervous. So I turned my head to face him. We were a lot closer than I thought. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk.

"You're really pretty, SooYun," he said quietly.

My heart sped up. How did he do that?

"You're really pretty, too, oppa," I teased. He flung his head back and rested it on the couch. I leaned up and kissed his cheek, which then turned a brilliant pink color. It was the boldest thing I'd ever done. DongWoon looked at me again, then kissed my cheek back. It felt like we were in grade school, but it was also cute.

"Okay! We got it untangled!" Mika called, and we heard some snickers. I knew my face was probably a really bright pink, and DongWoon even held a little color. Everyone pretended like it was all completely unintentional, but it wasn't at all. My lips wanted more, but I had to focus on the song for now.

Sure enough, JunHyung was a genius. He came up with a melody that everyone liked in 5 minutes. The rest, lyrics, just sort of started to flow. I was doing really well in contributing to the song until I leaned forward and DongWoon began to scratch my back gently. Then all I could focus on was his fingers' touch. I sang where I had to, and even rapped a little when I had to. But as for contributing with lyrics, DongWoon ruined any creative spirit I'd had.

We were done with the song a lot sooner than any of us had expected. We'd all learned to play the song, and Mika promised to transcribe it to blank staffs later. JunHyung made her pinky promise. It was cute how they interacted. Mika had a very clear crush on JunHyung, and he seemed to know it. My observation of the two of them was cut off when DongWoon spoke.

"So, are you hungry?"

I wasn't at all, but I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. I wanted us to have more time to talk besides just texting. So I lied, "I'm starving."

He smiled, "MiYoung, is it okay if I take SooYun out for some dinner?"

"As long as you don't stay out too late," she said, "We're going to practice the song more when you get home, okay Sammy?"

I nodded, "I look forward to it. It's a great song thanks to JunHyung."

JunHyung smiled coyly, "I just sat there. You girls just needed someone to work with."

"Thanks again for coming, guys," MiYoung patted DongWoon on the shoulder, "I'll see you later, Sammy. Have fun."

"Bye~ Sammy~!" Mika winked at me.

After DongWoon and I parted ways with JunHyung, the night felt fresher. At the same time, I felt really nervous being alone with him. I opened up to him a lot more than other people, and that freaked me out. I needed to decide immediately whether to put my guard up or learn to trust DongWoon. Our night had just begun, after all.

"What are you hungry for?" DongWoon smiled, but it looked as if it was forced.

"Are you hungry for anything in particular?" I asked.

DongWoon shrugged, "I'm actually not hungry."

"Good, me either," I sighed, "I just wanted to hang out with you."

He chuckled, "Then let's go hang out."

We took a bus and walked several blocks until we came to a park. The two of us just walked and talked. It was getting cold for the night, so I stuffed my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket. As we walked and talked, we moved closer and closer together. He told me about his parents, his education. I told him about mine. There wasn't much to talk about.

"What's wrong? You got quiet," he nudged me gently.

"It's nothing," I smiled, "What are we doing here? Just wondering around?"

DongWoon looked around, "We can go sit down if you want. There's a little picnic table over there." He bravely wrapped his arm around me and led me to the table. He held my hand while he seated me, then plopped down next to me.

"So tell me the truth about you," his legs faced the opposite way, with his back against the table part of the picnic table. He stretched his long legs out in front of him and put his elbows on the table. I folded my hands and put them in my lap. Hands seemed like the most fascinating thing in the world right then. I felt like I just discovered the beauty of the wretched things. But DongWoon was waiting for answers. He wasn't flirting or just wondering—he really wanted me to talk to him.

"I don't have parents," I said bluntly. I had tried to keep normal conversation, so when he asked a 'Do your parents ever …' question, I just nodded. DongWoon bit the inside corner of his mouth while I continued, "I don't want to get into it. I've always been into dance, but it was my grandmother who convinced me to sing. She told me I sound exactly like my mother when I sing," I smiled to myself.

"Where's your mother?" DongWoon seemed to gravitate toward me, emotionally and physically. Our arms were touching.

"I don't really know," I shrugged, "She moves a lot. I haven't talked to her since I started training. I was at YG before coming to Cube," I told him, "I like Cube a lot."

"Don't change the subject," DongWoon wasn't easily fooled, "What about your father?"

I swallowed tears. I knew he was going to ask that, so I gave him the answer I had prepared, "I don't know him."

DongWoon must have seen my eyes glistening because I felt his warm hand on my back. I was scared to look at him, because I could feel him watching me. I was too vulnerable to look at him. I knew I would cry if I looked at him.

I let myself chuckle, "MiYoung doesn't know any of this about me."

DongWoon tucked his thumb just under my eye and caught a tear that was close to the edge of falling, "I feel special." When I didn't say anything else, he asked another question, "So your grandmother raised you?"

I nodded, "She's gone now, though. Died." This was something I was used to talking about. Something I was trained to have no emotion for. Everyone knew this about me.

DongWoon seemed to catch on to my poker face, because he just said, "Don't try to pretend that didn't destroy you."

That was the first time someone had said anything like that to me. And it was my breaking point. I felt the first tear fall on my hands. I was looking at them again as if I'd never seen something as beautiful. I'm convinced it was their beauty that made me cry that night. DongWoon's arm around me, he comforted me in whispers, his perfect lips tickling my ears; I wanted to tell him it was the beauty of my hands that was making me cry. I wanted to tell him that I was crying because I'd never been blown away by such a natural beauty. I wanted to tell him I wasn't upset at all—I'd gotten over my grandmother's death months ago. I wanted to explain everything to him. But I didn't want to lie to him anymore. So I just cried. And then my lips were on him—on his lips. Mine had found his, searching for something to cling to, and DongWoon welcomed it.

He wanted me to taste his empathy, it seemed. And I did. It wasn't sweet like I imagined, but it was suiting. I had quit crying and my hands felt his face softly. He put his hand awkwardly on my waist and pulled me a fraction closer. I could hear my heart beating in my ears, and I felt like his was beating the exact same rhythm. I broke our kiss and pressed my forehead to his. I couldn't open my eyes, because I knew it would make that moment so much more real. That scared me. I had given a huge part of myself to DongWoon so willingly, and I had no idea why. What was it about him that made me feel so comfortable? Whatever it was made me crazy.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, wiping the small makeup smears from under my eyes, "Why did you tell me that stuff?"

"I trust you," I shrugged, still not opening my eyes. I didn't want him to be real yet.

"Why do you trust me?" he asked.

"I like you," I mumbled. I was terrified of the silence that followed. But his fingers on my face kept their rhythmic touch, and his forehead stayed pressed to mine. _Say it back,_ I thought to myself. But he didn't. He just kissed me again.

"You're really something special, SooYun," he cupped my cheeks in his hands, "Look at me." I forced my eyes open and glanced up at him before looking away embarrassed. "Can't you look at me?" I struggled to look at him again, and once our eyes locked, I fell deep into his eyes. I couldn't look away. I saw the light flickering there, the deep set emotion and determination. I felt like he was showing me his heart.

"I like you," I said again, but more confidently.

"I like you, too, SooYun," he smiled, but I could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Where does that put us?" I knew the answer wasn't a good one.

"In a place we shouldn't be," DongWoon said honestly. That was all I could handle to hear. I just wanted to feel now. I pressed my lips to his again, and he welcomed it again.

I could've spent the rest of the night like that.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_I don't own B2ST or CUBE and don't claim any part of their cool thing they got going. I'm just a chick with too much time and imagination. I hope I can at least entertain you, the reader, the most important part of this story. :3  
I was feeling kind of down about this story until someone finally reviewed it! So, for Dubu-chan! I hope you continue to read my story! This chapter would have never been finished without you!_

**Chapter 5**

I didn't want to go home that night. DongWoon and I laid on top of the picnic table looking at the sky. It was cloudy, so we couldn't really see the stars. There was a glow from the city that made everything feel like a science fiction anyway. DongWoon had his arm under my neck and resting on my arm. He kept humming a song they were going to record tomorrow. It was called "Break Down" and it would be on their new mini-album. When we weren't talking, he'd touch his lips to my temple. I was ready to fall asleep in the chilly wind because DongWoon was so warm.

"You look tired," his voice almost startled me. I sat up a little bit and faced him more. He moved some hair from my face and asked, "Do I need to take you home?"

"Can we just spend the night here?" I asked; half joking, half serious. I knew we probably wouldn't get a chance like this again.

"I wish," DongWoon pulled me into a hug, "You're so warm, I just want to cuddle."

"You're the reason I'm so warm," I chuckled.

"Because I'm so hot?" he joked.

"Yes, that's it," I laughed, "That's why your body temperature is so high."

He held me back to look at me. His chin wrinkled and he gave me an extremely goofy smile, which made me giggle even more. He laughed at my laugh, but as both of our laughs came to a close, DongWoon's face became slightly sad.

"Are you alright?" I dared ask.

"I just hope this isn't the last time we get to be like this," he let me roll back onto my back from the hug and sighed, "I mean, you're going to be debuting soon, and we're putting _Mastermind_ out soon… When are we going to have time to see each other?"

I shrugged, "We'll both basically be LIVING at the Cube building. I'm sure we'll see each other." I hated the way that lie tasted coming out of my mouth.

DongWoon shrugged a little, "I don't want to leave you yet."

I nestled into his shoulder and put my arm across his stomach. He held me against him like that until both of our phones had rang three times.

"I guess we should go," I finally mustered up the strength to say, "Wanna walk me back?"

"I would feel uncomfortable letting you walk back alone at this hour," DongWoon forced a smile, then reluctantly sat up. He jumped off the table and held out his hand for me. "Let's walk across this field so if someone recognizes me, they won't associate me with the couple they saw laying on the table."

"It's almost 12 am," I laughed.

"You don't know who's going to be out and about," he laughed.

We walked toward the street holding hands, but when we got to the lighted areas, we had to resist touching each other.

"Is MiYoung going to be mad that I kept you out so late?" he asked, barely bumping into me.

"I doubt it," I smiled, "She's too excited about the song."

DongWoon was staring down at me, a subtle smile on his face. I tried not to look at him so I could watch where we were going. The city was still so alive, but there weren't as many people out. There were a few corner lurkers, looking as if they were waiting to solicit pedestrians. Once we got inside my apartment building, DongWoon put his arm around my shoulders.

"So I'll see you tomorrow, right?" he asked as he pressed the elevator button. I just shrugged. I hoped we'd see each other. He sighed and led me onto the elevator. I was pretty sleepy, but I didn't want DongWoon to leave. It was a terrible feeling.

We stopped in front of the door and DongWoon hugged me. It didn't take long for his perfect lips to find mine. Or for his perfect hands to hold my waist. I wanted so badly to spend the entire night being held like that. But when he slid a hand under my shirt, I decided that was as far as I'd let it go for the night.

"I better go inside. Do you know how to get home from here?" I could feel his hot breath on my forehead. His eyes were closed.

"You can't make me leave like this," he chuckled slightly. His other hand moved up my shirt, feeling the hot skin on my back.

"Text me when you get home," I kissed him again, "I'm sure I'll be up for a while."

"Then don't go yet," he pleaded, opening his eyes to beg properly, "Don't go inside." I kissed him briefly before backing away from him. He looked at me with mock torture, "I'm not going to wait until I get home to text you."

I slipped inside the door halfway, "Get some sleep."

"Wait, wait," he lunged toward the door, then kissed me again, "Talk to you in two minutes."

"Goodnight," I smiled and shut the door. When I turned around, Mika and MiYoung were both staring. "Hey, what's up?" I felt the blood rushing to my face.

Mika squealed, "You two are so cute!"

MiYoung crossed her arms, "Why didn't you answer the phone?"

"Uh," I paused, but thankfully Mika kept her gushing up.

"Seriously, when you two were on the couch earlier, I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

I let out a fake laugh, "Really?"

MiYoung snapped her fingers, "SooYun. Answer me."

"I didn't hear my phone ring at all."

"I told DongWoon not to keep you out late," she snarled.

"We lost track of time," I shrugged, "Can we do this later? I had a really good night and I don't need –"

"What'd you guys do? I mean, you obviously did a lot of kissing," Mika giggled, "Did you go anywhere?"

"He was supposed to feed you," MiYoung said.

"Neither of us were hungry," I said honestly, "We went to the park and walked around and just talked."

MiYoung shook her head, "Well you can't stay out this late again. Next time I call you, you better answer."

"I'm sorry," I pouted.

Mika finally came to my defense, "Hey, leave poor SooYun alone. She had a nice night, let's not ruin it!"

"Well I want to practice the song again," MiYoung said. My phone vibrated.

( I'm in the lobby of you building because I'm hoping you'll come down and decide you don't want to stay inside. )

( Go home. T^T ) I sent DongWoon as a reply.

( Fine… Is MiYoung- ) That's as far as I got before MiYoung snatched my phone from my hand.

"Are you listening to me?" she asked.

"Of course, you said you wanted to practice the song," I mumbled.

She huffed, "I said go take a shower because you smell like outside, and Mika and I will fix you a little bit of something to eat."

"I'm not hu—"

"I don't want to hear that shit. If we're staying up this late to practice, you need to keep your energy up," she spun me around and pushed me toward the shower, "Get in the shower. And hurry up! We don't have all night."

I snatched my phone back from her, "Kay. See you in a bit."

She glared at me before I shut the door on her. I finished reading the text (Fine… Is MiYoung mad at me for keeping you out so late? )

I responded: ( Not really. She's mad at me, not you. I'm getting in the shower so if I don't text back for a few minutes, that's why. )

I was expecting a flirty response, and I got one: ( I'll be back up in 5 minutes. Make room for me! )

I smiled to myself, but didn't text back. The hot water was at a limited supply in this building, so I hoped there was still some for a shower. I took one look at myself in the mirror and smiled. Either I lost a few pounds or DongWoon was a boost to my confidence. I didn't look flabby or pudgy anywhere. Even my legs looked more toned. _Keep it up, SooYun,_ I told myself.

**DongWoon's POV**

This wasn't supposed to turn out this good. SooYun wasn't supposed to be so charming, so cute. She wasn't supposed to make me actually like her. And I did—I actually liked her. DooJoon was going to kill me. But it wasn't like he wasn't putting the moves on MiYoung. And what was up with that other girl and JunHyung? This was a mess.

My phone started ringing and it startled me. It was DooJoon.

"I'm on my—"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, I lost track—"

"It is twenty past midnight. Do you know how many times I called you?"

"I didn't hear my—"

"Three. I called you three times. Where is SooYun?" he demanded. I was silent. He pushed, "Is she with you?"

"Are you going to let me talk?" I finally asked with a slight chuckle.

"Where is SooYun?" he asked with more of a growl.

"She's at home. I'm on my way. We lost track of time, and she opened up to me a lot. I couldn't just let her tell her life story and then ditch her. Also, we didn't eat, so I hope there's food."

"Yeah, there is. What all did she tell you?"

I swallowed, not really wanting to share that information with anyone; "Stuff."

"Whatever. How far are you?"

"Like three blocks," I chuckled, "Calm down, mommy."

He hung up and I groaned. Why did I care about this girl so much?

Maybe it was her laugh that caught me. No, it was before that. Was I shallow enough to like her for her massage capabilities? No… It was something else. I kept going over it in my head. It wasn't because of her looks—I'm around beautiful girls all the time, though she was very attractive. It wasn't because of her talent, because I don't care about that—everyone at Cube (or most everyone) has talent.

My phone vibrated and I pulled it out faster than I could blink, but to my annoyance, it was a text from KiKwang and not SooYun.

( Please come home. I haven't seen you all day. )

I rolled my eyes. KiKwang always acted this way, saying he missed me or acted like he wanted to see me all the time. I was close to him, but I didn't want his neediness to ruin my good mood about SooYun.

SooYun. Man, she's pretty. And her laugh was so beautiful, too. And so was her brain. I recalled her telling me why she was even becoming an idol, and I honestly wished I could be as selfless as her. I did this for me, not for others. She wanted to share her happiness with other people. She was truly a doll. But something told me she wasn't truly happy—and I wanted to fix it. I wonder how stupid the guys would think I was if I told them any of this.

I checked my phone every 2 minutes; nothing. It had been almost 30 minutes since SooYun said she was getting in the shower. Are all girls this way? Maybe she forgot to text me.

"DongWoon, you're not listening to me," JunHyung prodded me with my toothbrush, "Go brush teeth before you fall asleep staring at your phone."

I glared at him, then to prove a point, left my phone on the table in front of me. The point I was trying to prove was that I wasn't waiting by the phone for ONE girl. I even took my time brushing my teeth and washing my face.

"Hey, DongWoon, your phone is ringing!" HyunSeung called from the living room where I left my phone. Needless to say I ran, toothbrush still in mouth, to the sound of his voice. Everyone started laughing. My phone was lying exactly where I left it—silent.

"You guys are jerks," I said through the toothpaste. I went to spit while DooJoon pointed and laughed at me. JunHyung just rolled his eyes at me, and KiKwang was pouting slightly.

"Are you waiting on that SooYun girl?" Yoseob asked, positioning himself in the doorway. I just ignored him. "You totally are. Did you two have fun tonight?" I nodded, and he just kept asking questions. Until finally, he asked, "Did you get any?"

I spit, "Get any what?"

"Trainee ass?" he joked.

"We made out, but that's it," I laughed, "I like her more than just that."

Yoseob raised his eyebrow, "Like you'd ever have the balls anyway."

I let my mouth hang in a pout, "Hyung, you can't say you've had the balls to do that, either."

He jokingly stuck his tongue out at me, then went on to tease me, "Oh, oppa, you're so tall!" he grabbed my arm, "Oh, oppa, your arms are so muscular!" I shrugged him off but he jumped on my back, "Oh, oppa," he struggled to maintain the mocking-girl voice he was using, "you're so STRONG!"

"Your phone is seriously ringing this time," DooJoon patted my shoulder.

I tried to throw Yoseob off my back but he was trying to hold me back. I lunged for my phone and missed, then crawled to it. When I answered, I was out of breath and Yoseob stepped on my butt to walk away, "Ouf. Hello?"

"Ouf?" SooYun asked in a giggle. My heart leapt.

"Yoseob hyung just stepped on me," I breathed heavily, "and I had to practically wrestle my way to the phone."

"I think we should both go to bed," her voice was like a song to me, even when it said what I didn't want to hear.

"I want to talk to you," I said quietly, so none of the guys heard me. KiKwang did, and he smiled at me before walking to the bedroom.

"I want to talk to you, too," she said, "but after we practice our song again, Mika is leaving, and MiYoung is going to want me to go straight to bed."

I looked around our dorm—everyone was still wide awake. We didn't have a lot going on yet, so we kept ourselves pretty entertained, even at night, "Well can I hear the song again?"

I heard her muffled voice, as if she turned away from the phone, "He wants to hear the song again… DongWoon?"

"Yes?"

"MiYoung said I have to get off the phone. I'll text you, okay?"

"I wanted to hear the song~" I whined, but she just chuckled.

"I'll sing it for you tomorrow," she promised, "but I really have to go. MiYoung is staring me down."

"Are you going to bed after this?" I asked.

"I don't know. But I promise to text you," she said again, "Bye."

I heard the click of the phone before I sighed and rolled onto my back. DooJoon had plopped down on the couch. He looked like he had something to say.

"Yes, it was SooYun. We wrote a song with—"

"JunHyung told us," he interrupted, "Do you like this girl a lot?"

I shrugged, "I won't say until I spend more time with her, and you're probably not going to let me."

"If you can bring me along next time, I could hang out with MiYoung," he mumbled. There wasn't anyone else in the living room with us, but there was noise coming from the kitchen.

"You want to use me?" DooJoon nodded. "Because you're too scared to just ask her out?" He nodded again. "I'll see what I can do. But you can't just hang around if she's not into you…"

"Why not? Don't you love me?" DooJoon pouted.

"Not enough to let you be the third wheel around SooYun and me," I said with an eye-roll. I sat up and stared at DooJoon while he stared at me. He squinted his eyes. I raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," he sighed, "see what you can do."

The entire rest of the night, I couldn't get the song JunHyung had helped BERRI write out of my head. SooYun never called me, but she did text me.

( MiYoung is forcing me to go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow. Just text me when you wake up, and we'll try to see each other later. I'd call you, but she's taking my phone.. Goodnight. )

I read it so many times, I lost count. I went to sleep first that night, but only because I wanted the time to go by faster. How did this girl have such a hold on me?

**HyunSeung's POV**

I overheard DongWoon tell Yoseob that he made out with SooYun, so I texted her.

( So, you're with DongWoon now? )

I waited all night for a reply, but I never got one. I didn't want to admit that it upset me, but I thought for sure SooYun liked me. I guess grabbing her and kissing her wasn't an obvious enough sign that I liked her back.

I tried to sleep, but it wasn't until the light was creeping through our bedroom window that exhaustion finally won me over. Even then, my dreams were tainted with SooYun's smile, her perfect soft lips, and those lips on DongWoon's. It was as unsettling as a nightmare.

How did this girl have such a hold on me?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **_I don't own B2ST or CUBE and don't claim any part of their cool thing they got going. I'm just a chick with too much time and imagination. I hope I can at least entertain you, the reader, the most important part of this story. :3  
If you are opposed to smut, don't worry about reading any further. I'll update you at the beginning of next chapter._

**Chapter 6**

**SooYun's POV**

HyunSeung texted me. I didn't know how I felt about it, either.

( So, you're with DongWoon now? )

How am I to answer that? I'm not "with" DongWoon but I'm interested in him. But what if I told HyunSeung that and he got mad? I don't think he has feelings for me, but maybe he would be mad at DongWoon. How was I to know?

"Just ask DongWoon," MiYoung said when I told her my dilemma.

"I can't just _ask_ him, I'd have to explain the whole thing," I paused, but she didn't react, "What if he thinks HyunSeung is interested in me?"

"What if HyunSeung _is_ interested in you?" Mika asked. I glared at her and she threw her hands up in surrender.

"If you're stressing over it so much, just ignore it," MiYoung took my phone, "We're going to sleep now. I let you text DongWoon, now bed. Mika, you'll be comfortable in here. I sleep on the couch most nights anyway."

We watched MiYoung walk out and close the door behind her, and Mika let out a soft laugh, "She's such a _mom_, isn't she?"

"You don't even know," I laughed, too. It wasn't until I closed my eyes that I realized how exhausted I was, and sleep swept over me almost instantly.

I thought for sure I would be able to avoid HyunSeung, but I got a call the next morning from Haw. He had an opening in his schedule and wanted to see how far the two of us have progressed in our dance. It was perfect the last time we danced together a couple days ago, but after that awkward text, and my awkward lack of reply, I hoped we could manage to keep working together. Haw told us to meet him in one of the practice rooms at 10:30. HyunSeung told me to meet him in there at 10:15 so we could "practice a couple of times to get warmed up." I hoped that's what he wanted.

When I arrived at 10:10, HyunSeung was there laying on his back. He heard me come in, and picked his head up slightly.

"Hey," he said simply, without getting up. I took a seat beside him, only about a foot away. "You never answered my text."

"MiYoung took my phone away because she thought it would be a distraction," I had prepared that. It was kinda true.

"So, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"With DongWoon," he looked up at me, straight in the face.

I hadn't prepared my answer for this, but I came up with something anyway, "No. We hung out last night, and it got late, so everyone got suspicious."

"He told us that you guys made out," HyunSeung wasn't looking at me anymore. I didn't know how to respond. "So you guys made out?"

"Yes," I didn't feel like lying, "And we did a lot of talking. He's a good guy."

"Do you like him?"

I still didn't want to lie. But I didn't want to tell the truth either. HyunSeung sighed and sat up. He didn't face me for a minute, and when he finally did, he looked … almost angry.

"It's none of my business. I just thought we were…"

"What?"

"I thought we were getting along good enough," HyunSeung shrugged, "Sorry if I didn't get the right message from you."

I instantly felt bad. Did this mean HyunSeung _did_ or _does_ have feelings for me?

"I didn't know there was a message I was sending," I said honestly, the hurt very clear in my voice.

He shrugged and stood up, "Wanna do this routine then?"

I nodded and stood up as well. I thought we would completely bomb it at first, but when the music started, we became numb again. Any emotion we felt was broadcast into this routine. We nailed it on the first try. I was so excited for how awesome we did that I had almost completely forgotten about the situation at hand. HyunSeung hadn't. As soon as I let a smile cross my face, he pulled me by the hand directly into his arms and kissed me. It wasn't the same kiss as our first one. This one was urgent in a different way. His lips were pleading with mine.

I had no idea what to do. I wanted those lips to be DongWoon's, but my own were so sorry. I kissed back. I felt so much regret for hurting HyunSeung that I let myself go. I threw my arms around his neck and he flung his around my waist. He backed me into the wall, which almost knocked the breath out of me. He could feel the breath about to leave me and moved his lips to my neck. He nipped at the skin while his hands found their way under my shirt and against my skin. I closed my eyes and tugged at his hair, pulling his lips back to mine. I don't know what was coming over me.

HyunSeung had me pinned against the back wall of the practice room. When he moved to kiss my neck and chest again, I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes filled with tears. I didn't want this. I really didn't. I wanted DongWoon. Even if he walked in and saw me like this, I would run to him and cry. But I had already crossed the line.

The door made one noise, and HyunSeung slid away from me. Haw stepped in, texting on his phone. I bit back the tears that had appeared and crossed my arms. HyunSeung made it look like he had been stretching the whole time. It's not fair that he can just do that and be completely normal while I struggle to keep from falling apart.

Haw finished his text and looked up at us with a smile, "Hey, SooYun. I heard about the group. I'm excited to hear you, but I'm more excited to see what dance talent you've got hidden."

"You'll see that today," HyunSeung chuckled, "She's been working really hard on this routine."

Haw looked from HyunSeung to me with an even bigger smile, "Is that so? Let's get down to it, then!" He clapped his hands together, "Go when you're ready!"

I don't know how I was going to manage this one. I had to gain my focus back in two seconds, and deal with HyunSeung's touch during the routine. I thought about DongWoon, but that didn't help. I looked at Haw—he had a reassuring look on his face, but I knew if I bombed, he was going to think I was an idiot. I played the song in my head, saw myself doing the routine. I didn't look at HyunSeung once. As soon as the music began, I knew I let go. As I so often did, I became a rag doll, a slave to the dance. I put everything into making it perfect. And it was perfect.

Haw clapped when we finished, "Wow! I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed, but DAMN. That was awesome, guys!"

"Thanks," HyunSeung smiled. I wasn't even out of breath, but HyunSeung took a deep breath with his shoulders. His part of the routine wasn't that much harder than mine. I shrugged. Maybe he was worn out from attacking me with his lips.

Haw crept toward me and pointed at a spot on my collar, "What's this? Is this a hickey?"

I covered it with my hand, "It's not a hickey. It's a burn. From my curling iron."

"You're lying," Haw laughed, "Who was it? Was it DongWoon?"

I stuck to my story, "It was my curling iron." I was ready to throw up. HyunSeung's lips had marked me.

"If you say so," Haw laughed, "I wanna see it again. From the top!"

HyunSeung and I danced a few more times for Haw, but I had to leave at 10:45 to meet with Mika and MiYoung to practice our song once more before meeting the songwriters. Haw left at 10:42, and I was about to follow him, but HyunSeung stopped me. As soon as the door closed, HyunSeung's hands were on my shoulders and he was kissing my neck from behind.

"I don't want to do this," I shrugged away from him, "I didn't mean to let it go so far today. I like DongWoon, okay?"

HyunSeung spun me around and pinned me to the wall again, "I don't care if you like DongWoon. I like you. So I'm not going to give up."

"Well you can't force me to like you back," I said, "I can't force _myself_ to like you back."

HyunSeung took a deep breath and then kissed me again. I didn't move, I kept my lips from kissing him back. He took a step back, "So, that's how it's going to be?"

"I'm sorry," I said, barely louder than a whisper.

"There's no reason to be sorry," he shrugged, "Not yet. I haven't given up." And with that, he left without even giving me a second look.

I pushed that out of my mind. This day could not be about HyunSeung, or even DongWoon. This day was about making an impression.

When I got back to BERRI, Yoonie was in the middle of recording the music to our song. He hadn't heard us sing it yet, but he was already gushing over the melody. He wanted it to be a surprise for him, also. MiYoung seemed confident, and Mika seemed excited. I was a little nervous. There was a part where I rapped a little, but it was pretty fast. I went over it again and again in my head. At 10:57, Yoonie had a burned disc of the music, and we were in the office of a couple of the songwriters. My nerves were at ease. I knew this song was a lot better than the one they had us singing yesterday.

We still had to use our lyric-cheat-sheets, but overall, the song was perfect. It was upbeat and fun, but it wasn't stupid and fluffy. Yoonie was bobbing his head to the beat of the music. I didn't pay attention to the songwriters at first, but once I finally noticed their reactions were all positive, I was aiming to impress.

As soon as we finished, we received applause.

"Can we get a copy of the sheet music?"

"Absolutely," Mika said, "I have another copy.. but it's handwritten."

The songwriters eagerly took it and some even asked to hear the song again. Yoonie gave us a discreet thumbs-up. I couldn't hide my smile. When we got to take a break, I called DongWoon.

"You haven't texted me allll day, you're lucky I answered," he teased, "How are you?"

"I'm good," I said, "The song was a hit."

"Are you surprised?" DongWoon said through, it seemed like, a mouthful of food.

"No, I just wanted to let you know," the smile on my face, "Also, there's something I want to talk to you about later. Are you coming to do anything at Cube today?"

"I can meet you there if you want me to," he laughed, "Everyone is always so busy except me and JunHyung."

"Well, no offense, but I need to talk to you alone," I said quietly.

"Oh, one of _those_ talks," he joked, "I'm on my way. But really, is everything okay?"

For some reason, I had to bite back tears, "I'm not sure. Just.. when you get a chance, come see me."

He sounded a bit more concerned when he spoke again, "I can come right now. When are you going to be the least busy?"

"In an hour or so," I said, "Can you meet me here in an hour?"

"Of course," he said with a bit of empathy to his tone. I wondered if he was trying to guess why I needed to talk to him. I know I'd be torturing myself if I had to wait an hour without any idea whatsoever what he needed to talk about. I wondered about what I should tell him. I wanted to talk to him about HyunSeung, but I didn't want to start any drama within B2ST. In all honesty, I didn't even care what DongWoon and I talked about. I just wanted to see him.

"SooYun," Mika touched my shoulder, "you okay?"

I nodded, "I'll tell you about it later." I knew I could trust Mika. MiYoung would make a big deal about it, but I had a feeling Mika would listen and give me the best advice. Besides, MiYoung was in too good of a mood to talk about boy drama.

I stifled a laugh. I've never had boy drama in my life.

When we finished planning with the songwriters, Yoonie let us take a "nap-break" because we told him we spent all night on the song. He told us to meet him in our dance practice room at 3pm. It was only 12, and I wasn't meeting DongWoon until 12:30. MiYoung wanted to get her nails done, but I really wanted to talk to Mika alone, so we took a walk instead. MiYoung didn't seem too hurt, in fact, she seemed pleased that she could have some alone time. I don't blame her—everyone needs time to themselves.

After I explained everything to Mika, she took a deep breath, "Do you want my advice?"

"Please god," I sighed.

"Don't mention anything to DongWoon," she said, "It would cause a lot of unnecessary crap between him and HyunSeung. They're already about to be pretty stressed out with their comeback."

I sighed again, "How am I going to keep something like that from DongWoon? You have to understand, it was _really_ intense."

Mika shrugged, "You need to do what's best for everyone. If the only way to keep you from talking is to do the same thing to DongWoon as HyunSeung did to you, just glomp him."

I let myself chuckle, "A crazy plan, but it just might work!"

Mika bumped into me and smiled. The September air was crisp, but the clouds in the sky gave it a weird chill. I tried to think about what I was going to tell DongWoon. I told him I needed to talk, but Mika thinks I shouldn't say anything. I guessed I'd improvise. I was horrible at improvising.

When I met DongWoon in an isolated break room, he shut and locked the door and pinned me to the back of it with a forceful kiss.

"Hi," he breathed into my neck before planting a kiss there, too. When he pulled away, he noticed the mark HyunSeung made and touched it, "I don't remember doing that."

"I burned myself with the curling iron this morning," I pouted, "can you kiss it for me?" I had examined the small mark before coming in and decided I could pull it off as a burn. DongWoon smiled and kissed it very tenderly before kissing just above it a little rougher.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He pulled at my waist, bringing my body closer to his.

I blinked, "You expect me to be able to concentrate like this?"

He smirked and let go of me. I plopped down on the couch that was on the other side of the room. DongWoon just watched me until I sat, then slowly walked over to me and sat as close to me as possible.

He kissed my cheek and repeated softly, "So what did you want to talk about?"

I couldn't think of anything besides blurting out what happened with HyunSeung, so I took Mika's advice. I grabbed his face and smashed my lips to his. He seemed surprised, but he didn't hesitate. I wanted to feel every bit of him. It eased my guilt to feel so much for him and so little for HyunSeung. Our kiss turned into more when he pulled me onto his lap and swept his hands under my shirt and up my sides. I had a knee on either side of him. He kissed down my jaw to my neck and chest, the hot skin of his hands still holding my sides. My hands pushed through his hair, clutching and pulling his head up to kiss my lips again. He responded well to that. One hand moved from my side to my boob, pressing against my bra as if he didn't know what to do. It felt good regardless. I'd never felt so much lust for someone in my life as I did then. It was like I couldn't stop myself.

DongWoon lifted me and laid me on my back on the couch. He hesitated with my shirt, unsure of whether or not to pull it off. I hesitated, too, but didn't hesitate to pull his shirt over his head. He smiled and kissed me again. I put my hands against his toned chest, and my fingers couldn't help but trail down his stomach as he hovered over me. DongWoon must have decided he wanted to see more of me, because he pulled my shirt off of me as well, only breaking our kiss to get it past my lips. He kissed down my neck again, between my boobs, down my stomach to just below my belly button. I put my hand on his cheek and stared at him with a smile. He stared at me, though slightly out of breath from either nerves or too much kissing. I was out of breath from both, along with an overwhelming feeling of lust.

"What?" he asked with a smirk. I just shook my head. He was sort of on his knees at first, but as he came back down to kiss my lips, I could feel the weight of his body on top of mine. It brought something out of me that I had no idea was there. I wrapped one leg around his waist and pulled his hips closer to me. His fingers danced under my bra straps and I knew he was dying to get it off of me.

"Oppa, please," I muttered, "You can't."

As I expected, this only encouraged him more. He reached behind me and unhooked my bra and gently tugged it off me. He swallowed and stared, then took a deep breath before kissing my neck. One hand fondled my naked breast while the other was pulling me from the back closer to him. I thought I was going to implode from all the feeling.

"Oppa, we shouldn't be…" I managed to moan through whimpers. He shushed me tenderly, kissing down my chest and to my neglected breast. His teeth grazed my skin and his lips curved around my nipple. His phone was vibrating in his pocket, but he ignored it, and so did I. I let his lips and tongue work magic all across my skin, and my hands swept down his sides and across his stomach until I was pulling at his belt loops closer to me. He moved back to my lips and slammed his own against them. I nipped and sucked on his bottom lip. I could feel his hard-on on my leg through his jeans and mine. I had no idea what I wanted to do about it, being very inexperienced. Surely even if DongWoon was inexperienced, he'd watched porn or something. That's what guys do, right?

There was a loud knocking at the door, "DongWoon, I know you're in there!" I jumped. It was HyunSeung's voice.

"Shit," DongWoon breathed against my bare chest, then turned to the door and shouted, "What do you want?"

"We're going to lunch," he coughed, "DooJoon says he wants everyone there."

"I'm not feeling well, tell DooJoon I'm resting," he groaned, "I want to feel better for practice later."

It didn't matter whether HyunSeung left or not, my mood was completely shot. To hear that voice made me feel like a total slut. I grabbed my bra and shirt and turned away from DongWoon to put them on. He pleaded with his hands for me to stop, but HyunSeung kept talking.

"Well JunHyung has a headache and KiKwang is complaining about never seeing you… Just come with us, you don't have to eat anything… Oh, DooJoon's here—"

"Look, we know you're with SooYun, just invite her to come along," DooJoon said, though his voice was muffled from behind the door, "She can invite Mika and MiYoung if she wants to."

DongWoon looked ready to punch someone, "We'll meet you upstairs. If we're not there in 10 minutes, we're not coming."

DooJoon huffed and then two sets of feet walked away. I didn't want to think about HyunSeung, let alone look at him.

"I'm sorry about that," DongWoon said, much calmer than I expected. He put his hand on my shoulder and leaned in to kiss me again, but I barely put any effort into kissing back. I was embarrassed—not just from HyunSeung, but the fact that everyone knew we were together. The obviously had an idea what we were up to. I felt dirty and skanky.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't hide anything from DongWoon. My eyes became a bit watery and when I looked at him, I knew I had to tell him.

"If I tell you, don't get angry. It was a misunderstanding."

"Why would I be mad?" his voice was laced with worry. I explained the incident with HyunSeung, but talking about how guilty I felt made me cry. I knew I looked like an idiot, like a slut. He was quiet for a minute before he held me and said, "I'm not angry. He's like that, actually. Don't cry, you're too beautiful to cry."

I put an end to my tears after he said he's not angry, "Don't tell HyunSeung anything, okay? I don't want to cause any drama in the group."

DongWoon smiled at me sadly, "So is that mark from him?"

I looked down at my lap and wiped my eyes, "I'm sorry."

"Just don't let him do that again," he sighed, "He'll play a victim-card, just ignore it… I'm protecting you, trust me."

"Do you still like me?" I asked after a silence.

DongWoon kissed my cheek and said softly in my ear, "More than ever. Thank you for being honest with me."

I turned and kissed his lips again. I still felt bad, but at least things weren't turning out the way they did in my head. DongWoon's hands gripped either side of my face and his kiss became more and more intense. I tucked away and looked up at him through my still-soaked eyelashes.

"You're going to be hungry all day if you don't go eat something," I reminded him.

"Come with me or I'm not going," he joked. I was mildly hungry, and I wanted to spend time with DongWoon, but my confidence in myself and the awkwardness surrounding the situation with HyunSeung made me hesitate. "You can invite the other girls, like DooJoon said," DongWoon said it to try to convince me.

I sighed, "I'll call MiYoung, she's probably with Mika. I'll meet you upstairs after I talk to them, okay?"

DongWoon pouted slightly, but he wasn't pushy. He kissed my lips, then my forehead, "I'm coming back down to get you if you're not up there in 5 minutes."

I finally chuckled and DongWoon stood up and adjusted his clothes. He pulled his previously strewn shirt over his head and gave a wobbly thumbs up. I nodded and giggled at him. He winked at me before walking out of the room. I wished for a mirror, but there wasn't one in here, so I just did my best to straighten out my hair and clothes before I even called MiYoung.

She answered on the first ring, "Waddup."

"Wanna go eat lunch with B2ST?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yes please," she said happily, "Where do we meet you?"

"I'll figure that out and text you," I promised, "We're leaving in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'm bringing Mika as well," she giggled, "See you soon!"

I let myself laugh a bit. She was so excited. I'm sure Mika had told her what happened by now. We can't keep secrets, as a group. I didn't mind MiYoung knowing about my drama, I just didn't want to be the one to talk about it.

I met DongWoon upstairs, where he resisted touching me around the others and the staff. I told DooJoon to tell MiYoung where we were going, and he seemed pleased at the opportunity. HyunSeung stood close to JunHyung and Yoseob, and KiKwang was very curious about me and kept asking me questions.

"Where are you from? Do you miss it? What's your favorite part about living in a big city? Are you glad you came to Cube? Are you glad you met DongWoon? Do you want to hear some embarrassing stories about him?"

DongWoon playfully pushed KiKwang away, "Yah, give her a chance to breathe between questions! Sorry about him," he laughed.

KiKwang pouted, "I just want to learn about her!"

"You were about to tell her embarrassing storied about me!" DongWoon protested.

KiKwang scowled, "I'll get to know her over lunch then."

DongWoon smiled down at me. For some reason, even if I felt horrible about the day earlier, I felt better now. It had something to do with being around DongWoon, yes, but it was more than that. I could feel him trying so hard to make me happy, but what could I do to make him happy? I stood on my toes and pulled him down until I could whisper in his ear.

"I just want you to know that you make me feel really happy," I said as sincerely as possible.

He stood up normally and winked at me before placing a hand on my head. "Back atcha."


End file.
